MUSICAL   RECOLLECTIONS 


Richard  Hoffman  at  78 

From  a  bust  by  his  daughter  Malvina 


SOME  MUSICAL 

RECOLLECTIONS    OF 

FIFTY  YEARS 


BY 
RICHARD   HOFFMAN 


WITH    A    BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 
BY    HIS    WIFE 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 
1910 


Copyright,  1910,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
Published  April,  1910 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH i 

MUSICAL  RECOLLECTIONS 61 

How  TO  STIMULATE  THOUGHT  AND  IM- 
AGINATION IN  A  PUPIL 159 


39536 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


RICHARD  HOFFMAN  AT  78 Frontispiece 

From  a  bust  by  his  daughter  Malvina 

FACING 

PAGE 

FREDERIC  RACKEMANN 10 

MRS.  KEMBLE 12 

Taken  from  life 

From  the  collection  of  Evert  Jansen  Wendell 

WILLIAM  SCHARFENBERG 20 

CHICKERING  HALL,  FORMERLY  AT  EIGHTEENTH 
STREET  AND  FIFTH  AVENUE 24 

ADELINA  PATTI  AS  "MARGUERITE"     ....      32 
RICHARD  HOFFMAN  IN  HIS  STUDY       ....      42 

FACSIMILE  OF  PROGRAMME — TESTIMONIAL  CON- 
CERT   50 

FACSIMILE  OF  MR.  HOFFMAN'S  LAST  MS.    .     54~55 

RICHARD  HOFFMAN — TAKEN  IN  AUGUST,  1909, 
WITH  HIS  CHAMPION  SHEEP  DOG,  "SiR  WALLY 
HARKAWAY" 58 

RICHARD  HOFFMAN'S  HAND 60 

Life  cast  by  Victor  Salvatore 

vii 


Illustrations 


FACING 
PAGE 


RICHARD  HOFFMAN  AS  A  BOY 68 

LEOPOLD  DE  MEYER 74 

From  a  caricature  after  Dantan 

GIULIO  REGONDI 80 

LISZT  WHEN  A  YOUNG  MAN 84 

JOSEPH  BURKE  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN       ....  94 

Known  in  boyhood  as  Master  Burke,  the  Boy  Phenom- 
enon 

THE  OLD  BROADWAY  TABERNACLE,  NEW  YORK 

CITY 96 

FACSIMILE  OF  PROGRAMME — TABERNACLE  CON- 
CERT        98 

JENNY  LIND 114 

SIGISMOND  THALBERG 130 

LOUIS  MOREAU  GOTTSCHALK 134 

CHARLES  HALLE 136 

DR.  HANS  VON  BULOW      150 

RICHARD  HOFFMAN,  1893 156 


Vlll 


RICHARD  HOFFMAN 

A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 
BY  His  WIFE 


RICHARD  HOFFMAN  was  born  in 
Manchester,  England,  May  24,  1831. 
May  24th  was  also  the  birthday  of  Queen 
Victoria,  and  always  on  that  day  for  as  long 
as  I  can  remember,  he  sat  down  to  the 
piano  after  breakfast  and  played  "God 
Save  the  Queen,"  and  hung  a  small  English 
flag  over  the  mantelpiece.  He  never  be- 
came an  American  citizen;  his  love  for  his 
native  land  and  the  obligation  of  forswear- 
ing allegiance  to  the  beloved  Queen  always 
held  him  back.  He  was,  however,  in  every 
sense  loyal  to  his  adopted  country  and  was 
fortunately  spared  the  trying  test  of  choos- 
ing between  them  at  any  vital  moment. 

His  father  was  a  musician  and  insisted 
that  all  his  children,  nine  in  number, 
should  be  educated  to  the  profession  of 
music.  In  the  case  of  three  of  them  it  was 
successful,  but  for  the  other  six  it  proved  a 
waste  of  time. 


Richard  Hoffman 

Richard  was  brought  before  the  public 
at  the  age  of  six  when  he  played  on  three 
different  instruments,  violin,  piano,  and 
concertina.  His  father  in  doing  this  was 
only  imitating  his  own  experience.  At  the 
same  age  he  had  been  playing  theatrical 
parts  in  the  provinces,  and  in  his  autobi- 
ography gives  an  amusing  account  of  his 
different  impersonations.  "I  played  pan- 
tomine,"  he  writes,  "in  Lord  Douglas* 
Dream,  in  'Chevy  Chase/  representing  the 
attack  on  the  castle  and  the  lady  love 
being  forcibly  carried  away.  I  well  re- 
member the  carrying  away  business,  as  the 
lady  (aged  six  years)  and  myself  almost 
always  came  to  grief  before  we  could  clear 
off  the  stage,  my  bodily  strength  failing  and 
ending  in  a  downfall  of  both  parties.  I 
also  played  'The  Blind  Boy'  in  the  The- 
atre Royal  in  Liverpool  and  Manchester." 

As  he  grew  older  he  gave  up  the  stage 
and  adopted  music  as  his  profession.  He 
became  a  well-known  musician  both  as 
organist  and  pianist,  besides  playing  a 
first  violin  in  the  Gentlemen's  Concerts  in 
Manchester.  When  he  was  seventy-five  I 
heard  him  play  all  the  scales  on  the  piano 
with  remarkable  velocity,  and  with  a  wine 


Richard  Hoffman 

glass  full  of  water  on  the  back  of  one  hand, 
never  spilling  a  drop  nor  moving  the  glass. 

Richard's  school-days  were  cut  short  at 
the  age  of  sixteen  when  he  was  sent  to  this 
country  to  the  care  of  an  uncle,  but  where 
he  soon  began  an  independent  career,  re- 
lying entirely  upon  his  own  efforts  for  sup- 
port. 

His  mother,  a  sweet  and  gentle  creature, 
was  the  daughter  of  a  Lieutenant  Harries  of 
the  Navy.  Her  brother-in-law  had  a  posi- 
tion in  the  Navy  Yard  at  Portsmouth,  and 
Richard's  greatest  delight  was  to  take  his 
vacations  with  this  uncle.  Thus  at  an 
early  age  he  became  familiar  with  the  war 
vessels  stationed  there  and  much  of  the 
routine  of  the  Royal  Navy;  one  of  his 
uncles  was  also  an  officer  on  the  ship  that 
conveyed  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena. 

His  studies  at  school  were  always  second- 
ary to  his  musical  work,  but  his  love  of 
reading  in  his  maturer  years  endowed  him 
with  a  general  knowledge  of  men  and 
things  which  was  at  all  times  thorough  and 
far-reaching.  His  memory  was  most  re- 
markable; in  music,  almost  phenomenal. 
In  his  last  years  he  could  still  play  nearly 
everything  he  had  ever  learned,  and  he  was 


Richard  Hoffman 

unusually  accurate  in  recalling  events  of 
the  past  or  anything  that  he  had  ever  read 
with  attention.  An  older  sister — Helen — 
afterward  Mrs.  Onslow  Lewis,  was  one 
of  the  most  promising  singers  of  her  day. 
(I  use  the  word  promising  as  her  career 
was  cut  short  of  its  fulfilment  by  her  mar- 
riage with  Capt.  Onslow  Lewis,  and  his 
prejudice  against  his  wife's  being  on  the 
stage  obliged  her  to  relinquish  a  career 
where  undoubtedly  she  would  have  become 
famous.)  It  had  even  been  arranged  by 
Barnum  that  she  should  accompany  Jenny 
Lind  to  America  and  appear  with  her  in 
oratorio.  A  few  days  before  sailing  a  con- 
cert was  given  in  Manchester  by  the  com- 
pany, where  Helen  sang  the  contralto  part 
in  an  oratorio  selection;  the  audience  was  so 
insistent  in  its  applause  that  Mademoiselle 
Lind  was  obliged  to  sit  down,  after  rising  to 
begin  her  own  part,  and  allow  the  young 
contralto  to  repeat  her  number.  A  few  days 
after  this,  or  perhaps  the  next  day,  the  en- 
gagement for  America  (which  had  been 
made  with  her  father,  she  being  under  age) 
was  cancelled  and  the  position  of  pianist 
for  the  company  was  given  to  her  brother 
Richard,  then  in  New  York. 


Richard  Hoffman 

The  engagement  gave  an  immediate 
impetus  to  his  musical  career,  and  although 
all  the  performers  at  these  concerts  received 
very  little  attention,  so  great  was  the  eager- 
ness of  the  people  to  hear  Jenny  Lind  and 
by  means  of  repeated  encores  to  keep  her 
on  the  stage  as  much  as  possible,  it  still 
served  to  bring  the  youthful  musician  be- 
fore the  best  audiences  in  the  country  and 
to  give  to  him  a  prominence  and  musical 
prestige  that  long  years  of  legitimate  work 
might  never  have  accomplished.  At  the 
first  concert  Richard  played  a  duet  on  two 
pianos  with  Benedict  (afterward  Sir  Julius) 
which  he  says  was  much  applauded,  but 
more,  he  thought,  for  its  termination  than 
for  its  merits.  Had  they  essayed  an  encore 
in  response,  he  felt  sure  a  mob  or  a  lynch- 
ing would  have  followed.  Castle  Garden 
was  actually  besieged  by  water  in  the  rear, 
for  the  river  was  filled  with  boats  that  were 
crowded  with  the  worst  possible  characters 
who,  it  was  rumored,  intended  to  effect  an 
entrance  to  the  hall  from  the  side  giving 
on  the  river.  The  police  had  been  sta- 
tioned there  to  repel  any  assault,  but  in 
spite  of  this  some  of  them  succeeded  in 
landing,  and  only  the  vigilant  efforts  of  the 

7 


Richard  Hoffman 

force  kept  them  from  carrying  out  a  scheme 
which  undoubtedly  would  have  created  a 
disastrous  panic. 

Richard's  grandfather  had  been  an  actor 
and  played  in  London  many  familiar  char- 
acter parts,  one  being  especially  popular 
with  the  people,  called  "The  Coronation," 
where  he  represented  George  IV  with  such 
accuracy  and  wonderful  personal  resem- 
blance that  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
tell  them  apart  had  they  found  themselves 
in  the  same  place  at  the  same  time.  He 
met  with  great  opposition  from  his  family 
for  going  on  the  stage,  and  for  this  reason 
changed  his  name  from  Hoffman  to  An- 
drews and  called  his  children  by  the  same 
name,  with  the  result  that  Richard's  father 
was  known  as  Hoffman-Andrews.  The 
uncle  to  whom  he  was  sent  in  America  had 
become  an  actor  and  was  at  one  time 
manager  of  the  old  Boston  Theatre;  he 
was  always  known  as  George  Andrews. 
When  Richard  came  here  he  dropped  the 
hyphenated  name  of  Hoffman-Andrews 
and  called  himself  Richard  Hoffman  pure 
and  simple,  the  only  name  to  which  he  was 
entitled  from  his  ancestors  and  which  was 
far  better  suited  to  his  career  as  a  musician. 
8 


Richard  Hoffman 

His  uncle's  profession  brought  him  in  con- 
tact with  many  of  the  best  actors  of  that 
time  and,  thanks  to  the  complimentary 
"pass,"  Richard  had  probably  seen  all  the 
best  plays  given  in  this  city  before  he  was 
twenty  years  of  age.  His  first  friend  in 
New  York  was  Joseph  Burke,  who  was  best 
known  in  his  childhood  as  "Master  Burke, 
the  Boy  Phenomenon."  He  had  been  for 
several  years  on  the  stage  playing  Shake- 
spearian historical  and  character  rdles  to 
crowded  audiences,  but  as  he  grew  older 
he  became  disgusted  with  theatrical  life 
and  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
violin,  which  he  played  with  skill  and  taste. 
So  great  a  friendship  grew  up  between 
them  that  they  lived  together  for  nearly 
twenty  years.  Burke  was  engaged  for  the 
Lind  concerts  in  this  country  and  became 
a  great  favorite  with  the  songstress,  who  at 
the  end  of  the  engagement  presented  him 
with  a  beautiful  violin  which  he  named 
"Jenny  Lind"  and  which  he  treasured 
with  pride  to  the  day  of  his  death.  If  ever 
any  one  asked  his  opinion  of  a  soprano 
singer  after  that  he  used  to  answer,  "Well,  I 
once  knew  a  lady  and  her  name  was  Jane 
Lind  and  she  used  to  sing  to  me  very  often; 


Richard  Hoffman 

since  then  I  have  never  really  listened  to 
any  one  else,  so  my  opinion  of  others  would 
be  biased  and  worthless." 

Richard  Hoffman  made  many  other 
warm  friends  in  these  early  years  among 
some  of  the  most  influential  people  of  New 
York,  taught  in  their  families,  and  was 
received  as  a  welcome  guest  in  their  homes. 
His  first  concert  in  this  city  could  hardly 
have  been  given  without  their  material  as- 
sistance. The  Ogden  Haggertys,  then  living 
in  Warren  Street,  were  especially  kind,  and 
Mr.  Arthur  Jones,  Mr.  Haggerty's  partner 
in  business,  treated  him  as  one  of  the 
family.  In  his  early  manhood  Richard  be- 
came engaged  to  Mr.  Jones's  only  daughter, 
who  perished,  alas!  from  a  rapid  con- 
sumption before  their  marriage.  Other 
early  friends  were  the  old  Sedgwick  family 
of  Lenox.  Miss  Elizabeth  Sedgwick  had 
married  Frederick  Rackemann,  his  par- 
ticular friend,  a  fine  musician,  who  for  some 
time  had  been  established  in  New  York 
as  a  teacher.  He  has  often  spoken  of  de- 
lightful visits  made  at  their  famous  home- 
stead, where  so  many  artists  of  all  profes- 
sions and  choice  literary  spirits  gathered 
in  delightful  symposiums.  There  he  met 
10 


i^H^^W^. 


Frederic  Rackemann 


Richard  Hoffman 

Fanny  Kemble,  the  actress,  who  was  a 
guest  in  the  house,  and  enjoyed  the  great 
privilege  of  hearing  her  read  and  recite  while 
he  and  Mr.  Rackemann  furnished  inter- 
ludes of  music.  In  this  simple  and  infor- 
mal fashion  it  was  his  good  fortune  to 
meet  some  of  the  most  interesting  people  of 
that  time.  I  should  modify  the  word  in- 
formal, however,  where  Mrs.  Kemble  was 
concerned,  for  she  was  always  stately  and 
imposing,  and  her  manner  suggested  much 
of  the  tragedy  queen. 

In  1870,  after  we  were  married,  we  went 
to  Lenox  together  to  revisit  some  of  these 
friends.  We  stayed  in  the  old  Sedgwick 
house  with  the  Rackemann  family,  and 
while  there  had  been  many  changes  in  its 
brilliant  circle  of  habitues,  one  still  felt  the 
influence  that  survives  the  material  presence 
of  those  who  have  passed  on.  The  Ogden 
Haggerty  family,  whom  I  met  there  for  the 
first  time,  and  who  had  been  so  kind  to 
my  husband  in  his  youth,  were  living  near 
the  Rackemanns,  and  much  of  the  interest 
of  their  household  was  centred  about  their 
invalid  daughter,  Mrs.  Shaw,  the  widow 
of  Colonel  Shaw,  that  hero  of  our  Civil 
War  whose  bravery  has  placed  him  high 
ii 


Richard  Hoffman 

on  the  honor  roll  of  history  and  to  whom 
Boston  has  given  a  monument  by  our 
great  Saint-Gaudens,  "lest"  those  who 
come  after  might  "forget." 

I  recall  a  delightful  dinner  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Astor  Bristed 
(Mrs.  Bristed  had  been  a  Sedgwick)  where 
there  was  much  brilliant  conversation;  a 
day  at  the  Lebanon  Shaker  Community  and 
a  drive  through  beautiful  woods,  pink  with 
flowering  laurel,  leaving  on  our  minds  an 
indelible  impression  of  beauty  and  the 
recognition  of  that  simple  yet  full  and  in- 
telligent life  that  could  only  be  fostered 
and  maintained  in  such  a  place  as  Lenox 
was  at  that  time. 

Among  Richard's  other  early  friends  and 
pupils  was  the  Doremus  family,  remaining 
staunch  and  true  throughout  his  life.1 
The  Doctor  gave  him  the  name  of  the 
"Beloved,"  and  ever  afterward  so  ad- 
dressed him  no  matter  where  they  met. 
I  remember  at  the  reception  he  gave  to 
Mile.  Nilsson  in  1871 — he  was  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  Philharmonic  Society — we 

1  Dr.  R.  Ogden  Doremus,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  New 
York  Free  Academy. 

12 


Mrs.  Kemble 

Taken  from  life 
From  the  collection  of  Evert  Jansen  Wendell 


Richard  Hoffman 

were  entering  the  room  when  the  Doctor, 
who  stood  near  the  door  with  his  beautiful 
wife,  called  out:  "Oh,  here  comes  the 
Beloved  with  his  bride!"  presenting  us  at 
once  to  Mile.  Nilsson,  M.  Vieuxtemps,  and 
other  members  of  the  company.  A  number 
of  journalists  and  distinguished  persons 
were  present,  and  I  often  recall  it  as  one 
of  the  most  interesting  occasions  I  ever 
enjoyed. 

Richard  Hoffman  first  played  for  the 
New  York  Philharmonic  when  he  was 
seventeen  years  old.  The  society  had 
then  been  established  for  about  six  years. 
He  selected  the  Mendelssohn  G  Minor 
Concerto,  then  quite  new  to  the  public,  and 
played  so  well  that  he  was  proposed  as  an 
honorary  member.  The  committee,  how- 
ever, refused  their  consent  on  the  ground 
that  they  could  not  admit  "boys"  to  this 
honor.  A  few  years  later,  when  he  was 
twenty-two,  after  playing  one  of  the  Chopin 
Concertos,  he  was  again  proposed  and  this 
time  unanimously  elected.  After  this  he 
continued  to  play  for  them  almost  every 
season  and  always  gratuitously.  He  often 
received  the  most  complimentary  letters 
from  the  president  and  committee,  and  the 

13 


Richard  Hoffman 

following  came   to   him  after  playing  the 
Beethoven  C  Minor  Concerto  in  1878: 

PHILHARMONIC  SOCIETY. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  of 
New  York,  held  at  the  Academy  of  Music  March 
1 5th,  1878,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  a 
vote  of  thanks  be  tendered  to  Mr.  Richard  Hoff- 
man for  the  prompt  manner  with  which  he  has 
always  volunteered  his  valuable  services  whenever 
invited  to  assist  at  any  of  these  performances,  and 
the  Society  furthermore  desire  to  express  to  him 
their  high  appreciation  of  the  fidelity  and  artistic 
elegance  and  expression  with  which  he  interpreted 
the  "Beethoven  C  Minor  Concerto"  at  their  re- 
cent Rehearsal  and  Concert. 

It  was  also  resolved  that  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tions be  published  in  the  various  public  journals 
of  the  city. 

By  order  of  the  Society. 

(Signed)  E.  H.  SCHERMERHORN, 

President. 

He  was  at  one  time  invited  to  become 
president  of  the  society  but  declined, 
though  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  con- 
ferred. To  have  accepted  would  have 
entailed  many  duties  for  which  he  could 
not  spare  the  time,  and  a  business  manage- 
ment for  which  he  felt  himself  unfitted. 

14 


Richard  Hoffman 

In  addition  to  this  he  was  of  a  most  retiring 
disposition  and  always  tried  to  avoid  no- 
toriety. At  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  the 
society  Dr.  Doremus  made  a  speech  at  the 
concert  during  the  intermission,  referring 
to  the  troubles  and  dissensions  that  had 
perplexed  the  government  of  the  organiza- 
tion in  1867,  and  stating  the  conditions 
he  had  made  before  consenting  to  become 
president  at  that  time.  The  first  of  these 
was,  that  the  orchestra  should  be  doubled 
or  never  less  than  a  hundred  men;  the 
second,  that  only  the  best  soloists  should 
be  engaged,  with  liberal  compensation;  the 
third,  that  the  concerts  should  be  held  in 
the  finest  building  in  New  York  (then  the 
Academy  of  Music  in  Fourteenth  Street), 
and  lastly,  that  extensive  advertising  and 
publishing  in  the  daily  papers  should  be 
constantly  carried  on.  His  terms  were 
accepted  and  he  became  president  from 
1867  to  1870.  He  stated  that  he  had  felt 
he  would  be  criticised  for  his  audacity  in 
accepting  the  position,  being  but  an  ama- 
teur, but  that  his  "beloved"  friend  Hoff- 
man had  told  him  that  the  society  needed 
some  one  to  stand  between  it  and  the  public 
and  that  he  (Doremus)  was  the  one  to  do 

15 


Richard  Hoffman 

it.  He  had  a  most  successful  administra- 
tion and  left  the  society  in  the  enjoyment 
of  a  most  substantial  prosperity. 

In  February,  1885,  Richard  Hoffman 
played  at  one  of  the  concerts  the  Mozart 
D  Minor  Concerto  and  so  far  surpassed 
himself  in  the  "Romanza"  that  the  effect 
on  the  audience  was  quite  remarkable. 
Its  pathos  and  beautiful  melody  hushed 
the  auditorium  of  the  old  Fourteenth 
Street  Academy  to  the  silence  which  with- 
holds immediate  applause,  but  when  the 
concerto  was  entirely  finished  it  gave  with- 
out stint.  The  cadenzas  for  this  concerto 
were  written  by  Hummel,  but  on  this  oc- 
casion he  improvised  his  own,  which  at 
that  time  was  considered  rather  a  bold 
stroke;  but  I  remember  his  saying  that  he 
thought jt  a  good  time  to  have  a  little  fun 
and  give  the  musicians  a  surprise.  They 
took  it  well,  however,  and  published  the 
following  notice  in  the  daily  paper: 

THE     PHILHARMONIC     SOCIETY    THANKS     RICHARD 
HOFFMAN 

NEW  YORK,  February  i8th,  1885. 
RICHARD  HOFFMAN,  ESQ. 

Dear  Sir:    It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  com- 
municate to  you  the  heartfelt  thanks  of  the  members 
16 


Richard  Hoffman 

of  the  Philharmonic  Society  for  your  valuable  assist- 
ance at  their  last  concert. 

Your  excellent  interpretation  of  the  Concerto  by 
Mozart  was  thoroughly  appreciated,  and  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  members  of  the  society, 
who  on  this  occasion  felt  especially  proud  to  have 
your  name  on  the  list  of  their  honorary  members. 
I  remain,  yours  truly, 

(Signed)  AUG.  ROEBBELEN,  Sec'y. 

The  last  time  he  played  for  them  was  in 
1892,  on  the  occasion  of  their  fiftieth  anni- 
versary, when  they  repeated  the  programme 
of  their  first  concert.  They  invited  Mr. 
Hoffman  to  play  the  Hummel  quintet, 
which  had  been  given  fifty  years  before. 
In  referring  to  the  programme  of  this  con- 
cert I  find  that  the  society  omitted  to  print 
on  it  the  names  of  the  performers  at  their 
first  concert,  which  would  have  been  of 
great  additional  interest  to  the  public. 
Mr.  Krehbiel's  History  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society  supplies  this  deficiency.  William 
Scharfenberg  played  the  piano  part  in 
Hummers  D  Minor  Quintet,  and  the 
soloists  were  Madame  Otto  and  Mr.  C.  E. 
Horn.  The  C  Minor  Symphony  of  Bee- 
thoven was  conducted  by  U.  C.  Hill,  and 
the  orchestra  during  vocal  selections  was 
conducted  by  H.  C.  Timm. 


Richard  Hoffman 

Richard  Hoffman  was  all  his  life  a  loyal 
supporter  of  this  society  and  felt  it  had  been 
the  foundation  of  all  good  music  in  this 
country.  That  they  realized  this  the  fol- 
lowing letter  shows: 

PHILHARMONIC  SOCIETY  OF  NEW  YORK 
FOUNDED  A.  D.  1842 

NEW  YORK,  April  27,  1892. 
RICHARD  HOFFMAN,  ESQ. 

Dear  Sir:  The  members  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society  desire  to  express  their  sincere  thanks  for 
your  generous  act  of  playing  gratuitously  on  the 
occasion  of  the  first  of  the  concerts  given  in  cele- 
bration of  the  Society's  fiftieth  anniversary  on 
April  2 1  st. 

Your  efforts  have  contributed  materially  to  the 
success  of  the  evening  and  the  conscientious  and 
most  artistic  rendition  of  Hummel 's  Quintet  was 
highly  appreciated  by  the  public  as  well  as  the 
musicians,  who  upon  this  occasion  feel  particularly 
indebted  to  an  artist,  who,  in  the  course  of  time, 
has  contributed  so  much  to  further  the  objects  of 
the  Philharmonic  Society. 

I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 
Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)  AUG.  ROEBBELEN,  Secretary. 

He  had  been  a  warm  friend  of  one  of  the 
earlier  presidents,  Mr.  William  Scharfen- 
18 


Richard  Hoffman 

berg,  and  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Timm  who  pre- 
ceded him,  and  the  sort  of  apostolic  suc- 
cession which  had  so  long  obtained  met 
with  his  entire  approval.  It  was  with  a 
real  pang  that  he  heard  of  the  changing  of 
the  old  order.  The  reorganization  of  the 
society  in  1909,  with  a  management  not 
entirely  composed  of  musicians,  was  a 
proposition  difficult  for  him  to  accept.  I 
think,  however,  he  finally  realized  that  the 
passing  of  many  of  the  old  members  ren- 
dered it  impossible  to  keep  up  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  past.  New  recruits  could  not 
be  expected  to  feel  the  same  pride  and 
responsibility  in  the  organization,  and,  if  it 
was  to  survive,  the  present  plan  promised 
the  best  outlook  for  its  continuance.  He 
was  a  familiar  figure  at  all  the  concerts, 
never  missing  one  that  his  health  per- 
mitted him  to  attend.  Nothing  was  al- 
lowed to  interfere  with  this  pleasure  and 
through  fair  weather  and  storm  he  always 
occupied  the  seats  which,  as  an  honorary 
member,  he  received  every  season  from  the 
society. 

After  the  termination  of  the  Jenny  Lind 
engagement  in  1852,  which  played  so  large 

19 


Richard  Hoffman 

a  part  in  starting  his  musical  career,  Rich- 
ard Hoffman  began  his  work  as  a  teacher 
in  good  earnest,  and  very  soon  secured  an 
excellent  clientele,  giving  as  many  as  eight 
or  ten  lessons  a  day.  This  in  connection 
with  numerous  miscellaneous  concerts  and 
all  the  practising  that  these  involved,  kept 
him  closely  occupied  for  at  least  eight  or 
nine  months  of  the  year.  As  soon  as  his 
income  permitted,  he  went  to  England  and 
sometimes  to  the  continent  during  the  sum- 
mer, but  he  never  tried  to  obtain  any  pub- 
lic engagements  at  these  times.  He  went 
chiefly  to  see  his  family  and  old  friends,  and 
most  particularly  Giulio  Regondi,  of  whom 
he  gives  some  account  in  his  "Recollec- 


tions." 


During  the  Civil  War  in  this  country  he 
organized  with  Mr.  William  Scharfenberg 
and  others,  on  a  musical  committee,  a  series 
of  concerts  for  the  Sanitary  Fair.  These 
were  most  successful  and  brought  in  good 
returns  for  the  benefit  of  our  wounded 
soldiers.  Some  of  his  best  pupils  appeared 
with  him  on  these  occasions,  in  duets  for 
two  pianos  and  quartettes  for  eight  hands. 
During  these  years  he  also  was  organist 
at  St.  John's  Chapel  in  Varick  Street.  He 
20 


William  Scharfenberg 


Richard  Hoffman 

had  an  excellent  knowledge  of  the  organ 
but  could  not  give  much  time  to  it  without 
neglecting  the  piano  or  without  showing  its 
influence  upon  his  touch.  He  gave  it  up  en- 
tirely when  he  felt  he  could  afford  to  do  so. 
He  had  great  facility  for  reading  at  sight, 
and  was  frequently  asked  in  emergencies 
to  act  as  substitute  for  pianists  who  were 
suddenly  prevented  from  keeping  their 
engagements.  One  evening  about  seven 
o'clock  he  was  sent  for  to  play  in  a  trio 
which  was  to  be  given  at  a  concert  that  night 
at  eight  o'clock.  The  pianist  had  been 
taken  ill  and  begged  him  by  messenger  to 
take  his  place.  He  had  not  studied  the 
composition  but  he  consented  to  help  out 
the  situation  and  appeared  at  the  hall  in 
an  hour,  where  the  trio  was  given  without 
rehearsal  and  without  contretemps  of  any 
kind.  (Jpon  another  occasion  he  did  the 
same  thing  for  Gottschalk,  playing  the 
Carl  Eckert  trio  at  sight  and  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice.  Many  fine  pianists  have 
not  this  power,  and  I  have  often  heard 
them  speak  with  envy  of  his  quite  remark- 
able gift.  A  very  few  of  his  pupils  pos- 
sessed in  an  unusual  degree  this  same 
power.  One  in  particular,  who  received 

21 


Richard  Hoffman 

all  her  musical  instruction  from  him,  met 
on  one  occasion  Anton  Rubinstein,  who 
had  been  told  of  her  great  musical  talent. 
He  invited  her  to  read  at  sight  a  manu- 
script composition  of  considerable  diffi- 
culty. She  acquitted  herself  so  well  and 
with  so  much  ease  and  facility  that  Rubin- 
stein told  her  it  could  not  have  been  better 
done. 

At  another  time  he  came  to  the  rescue 
of  Miss  Adelaide  Phillipps  who  was  the 
vocal  soloist  at  one  of  the  Philharmonic 
concerts  of  Brooklyn.1  She  was  to  sing 
"Oh  Rest  in  the  Lord,"  and  there  had  been 
no  rehearsal.  The  audience  was  awaiting 
her  appearance,  but  when  the  music  was 
handed  to  her  she  saw  to  her  dismay  that 
it  had  been  altered  from  the  contralto 
setting,  in  which  it  was  originally  written, 
to  a  soprano  pitch,  and  consequently  quite 
out  of  the  range  of  her  voice.  She  ex- 
plained to  the  conductor  but  he  said  there 
were  no  other  scores  for  the  orchestra  and 
to  transpose  it  at  sight  seemed  hazardous. 
At  this  juncture  Mr.  Hoffman  came  for- 
ward and  offered  to  accompany  her  on  the 

1  From  Adelaide  Phillipps,  "A  Record,"  by  Mrs.  R.  C. 
Waterston. 

22 


Richard  Hoffman 

piano  in  the  key  in  which  it  was  originally 
written  by  Mendelssohn.  This  he  did 
successfully,  Miss  Phillipps  sang  delight- 
fully, and  the  audience  was  saved  a  dis- 
appointment. 

In  the  early  seventies  concerts  of  miscel- 
laneous composers  and  performers  were 
falling  off.  Recitals  and  chamber  music 
began  to  be  more  appreciated.  Theodore 
Thomas,  William  Mason,  Carl  Bergmann, 
Mosenthal,  and  Matzka  had  for  some  years 
been  the  only  good  exponents  of  this  class 
of  music,  and  later  the  Philharmonic  Club, 
formed  of  men  belonging  to  this  society, 
with  Richard  Arnold  as  first  violin,  giving 
their  concerts  at  Chickering  Hall,  on  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Eighteenth  Street.  Before 
this  the  Chickerings  had  occupied  a  large 
private  house  on  Fourteenth  Street,  where 
they  had  a  charming  little  hall  at  the  back; 
but  this  soon  became  too  small  for  their 
increasing  business.  At  this  hall  Mr. 
Hoffman  had  for  three  seasonsvgiven  a  series 
of  subscription  recitals,  occasionally  intro- 
ducing a  singer  to  give  variety  to  the  pro- 
grammes. Antoinette  Sterling  sang  for  him 
and  Mr.  Burke  sometimes  assisted  with 
his  violin.  Fred.  Bergner,  the  good  old 

23 


Richard  Hoffman 

'cellist  who  was  for  so  many  years  a  member 
of  the  Philharmonic  Society,  often  made 
one  in  a  trio.  These  evenings  were  at- 
tended by  so  many  people  who  knew  each 
other  well  that  they  became  very  friendly 
and  social  reunions.  The  encores  were 
often  "requests"  and  the  concerts  too  in- 
formal to  enter  the  lists  for  public  criti- 
cism, but  I  remember  how  pleasant  and 
delightful  they  were  and  with  what  sincere 
regret  they  were  relinquished  when  the 
Chickerings  moved  to  their  larger  quarters 
on  Fifth  Avenue,  with  a  concert  hall  much 
too  large  for  these  entertainments.  His 
taste  for  chamber  music,  which  had  been 
held  more  or  less  in  the  background  from 
the  need  of  audiences  to  patronize  such 
programmes,  was  constantly  receiving  an 
impetus  from  his  friend  Regondi  in  Lon- 
don. The  suggestions  in  the  accompanying 
letter,  which  is  dated  1868,  were  not  mate- 
rialized until  ten  years  later,  when  with  the 
aid  of  pupils  and  friends  Trio  clubs  were 
formed  to  meet  at  private  houses.  Only 
the  best  music  was  given,  and  such  good 
and  well-known  players  as  Gustav  Dann- 
reuther,  Schenck,  Hartdegen,  Schultz,  and 
others  played  the  violin  and  'cello  parts. 
24 


Chickering  Hall,  formerly  at  Eighteenth  Street 
and  Fifth  Avenue 


Richard  Hoffman 

December  i3th  1868, 
17  Portsea  Place, 
Connaught  Sqre, 
London,  W. 
MY  DEAR  RICHARD: 

It  is  most  kind  of  you  to  have  written,  and  it 
gave  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  how  fully  occupied 
you  are,  but  I  do  hope  your  friends  and  pupils  will 
not  allow  you  to  give  up  playing  entirely  in  Public. 
Chopin  felt  a  great  horror  of  it,  but  still  played  at 
a  few  Concerts  now  &  then  &  on  Sundays  at  his 
own  residence  to  a  select  circle  of  friends,  you 
might  follow  this  plan  &  thus  preserve  a  motive 
for  keeping  your  playing  without  having  to  lower 
your  talent  to  the  vulgar  level  of  large  and  mixed 
audiences.  Your  talent  is  of  too  pure  &  classical 
an  order  to  be  neglected  or  entirely  hidden,  for  it 
is  only  by  such  playing  as  yours  that  a  correct  esti- 
mate of  what  Piano  Forte  playing  ought  to  be, 
can  be  maintained  in  New  York.  I  think  you 
ought  to  form  a  Quartett  party  with  other  artistes 
&  give  every  winter  a  series  of  Chamber  classical 
Concerts  (say  only  4)  in  a  moderately  sized  Room 
&  only  by  subscription  &  each  member  share 
alike  expenses  &  profits.  Such  an  enterprise 
might  become  eventually  the  nucleus  of  a  most 
fashionable  and  aristocratic  union  like  Ella's 
here. 

25 


Richard  Hoffman 

Did  you  not  compose  any  new  pieces  during 
your  stay  at  Manchester  ?  I  want  you  very  much 
to  play  Schubert's  Piano  music,  as  I  think  it 
especially  suited  to  the  exquisite  delicacy  &  refine- 
ment of  your  style  &  it  is  such  fresh,  original  & 
truly  inspired  music,  you  would  easily  learn  it  & 
enjoy  playing. 

I  am  sorry  that  Grant  is  a  poor  speaker,  for  a 
President  of  a  Republic  ought  to  be  a  great  orator 
as  well  as  a  great  General  &  statesman.  Never- 
theless I  hope  for  a  better  state  of  things  with  him. 
I  wish  you  many  happy  returns  of  the  season  & 
hope  you  will  write  to  me  again  when  in  summer 
you  are  resting  from  your  hard  work. 
Believe  me  ever 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

GIULIO  REGONDI. 

Another  series  of  afternoons  with  the 
different  composers,  one  at  each,  proved 
very  interesting,  and  at  the  houses  of  pupils 
and  friends  he  gave  all  the  Beethoven 
sonatas  for  violin  and  piano.  These  were 
repeated  for  several  seasons,  with  Adolph 
Brodsky,  Maud  Powell,  Richard  Arnold, 
and  the  last  time  with  Samuel  Grimson, 
a  talented  young  English  violinist,  who 
possesses  in  a  marked  degree  the  ability  to 
26 


Richard  Hoffman 

interpret  this  style  of  music.  The  trios 
were  repeated  in  Brooklyn,  where  there 
are  many  amateurs  of  good  taste  and  musi- 
cal culture,  and  where  he  had  a  large 
number  of  pupils.  He  studied  for  these 
concerted  programmes  with  the  same  dili- 
gence and  interest  that  he  would  have  given 
to  piano-forte  solos,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
seemed  to  possess  the  rare  quality  of  never 
interpreting  his  part  with  too  much  promi- 
nence, thereby  destroying  the  desired  har- 
mony of  the  "ensemble."  For  many 
years  he  played  regularly  at  the  Brooklyn 
Philharmonic,  where  he  was  treated  always 
as  a  general  favorite.  In  Brooklyn,  the 
Philharmonic  Society  of  New  York  was 
engaged  by  a  Committee  of  Gentlemen  to 
give  four  or  five  concerts  in  a  season,  the 
committee  being  responsible  for  expenses. 
These  have  been  discontinued  of  late  years, 
I  hardly  know  why,  unless  the  inhabitants 
of  Brooklyn  prefer  taking  their  music  in 
New  York,  or  perhaps  the  engagement  of 
the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra  for  regu- 
lar concerts  may  have  taken  the  place  of 
the  old  society. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  Chickering 
Hall  the  management  for  several  seasons 
27 


Richard  Hoffman 

gave  a  series  of  excellent  orchestral  con- 
certs at  popular  prices,  with  a  good  band 
of  fifty  or  sixty  men.  Theodore  Thomas, 
Van  der  Stucken,  Carlberg,  and  Anton 
Seidl  were  the  conductors,  and  at  all  of 
these  Richard  Hoffman  played,  usually  a 
concerto  with  orchestra,  and  some  solo 
numbers.  He  was  still  working  very  hard 
at  teaching  and  composing,  thus  keeping 
himself  in  the  front  ranks  of  musical 
progress  in  this  country.  He  was  perhaps 
more  identified  with  the  music  of  Chopin 
than  of  other  composers.  He  loved  the  fire 
and  dash  of  the  great  polonaises,  which 
the  unfortunate  composer  could  scarcely 
interpret  himself  for  lack  of  physical 
strength.  He  loved,  too,  the  mysterious 
preludes  and  wild  impromptus;  indeed,  all 
the  compositions  of  this  incomparable 
genius  of  the  piano-forte  possessed  for  him 
a  fascination  and  charm  which  haunted 
and  captivated  his  spirit. 

During  our  first  visit  to  Paris  in  1869,  we 
went  to  the  cemetery  of  Pere-Lachaise  to 
visit  the  tomb  of  Chopin.  As  it  happened, 
we  were  told  at  the  flower  shop  where  we 
went  to  buy  some  wreaths  to  place  on  the 
grave,  that  it  was  the  "  Jour  des  Musiciens." 
28 


Richard  Hoffman 

It  seems  to  be  a  custom  to  set  apart  certain 
days  in  memory  of  those  artists — painters, 
sculptors,  and  musicians — who  are  buried 
there. 

We  were  inquiring  our  way  when  a  small 
child  of  six  or  seven,  evidently  belonging 
to  the  guardian  at  the  gate  and  familiar  with 
these  sad  memorial  localities,  offered  to  be 
our  guide  to  this,  as  well  as  to  the  tomb  of 
Abelard  and  Heloise.  He  called  back  to 
his  mother  who  was  at  the  window  of  the 
lodge:  "Maman,  je  conduis  un  monsieu' 
et  une  dame  au  tombeau  d' Abelard  et 
Heloise,  et  ensuite  chez  Monsieu'  Chopin." 
The  word  "chez"  seemed  to  dissipate  in  a 
measure  the  sadness  of  the  dwelling-place. 
This  familiarity  with  the  habitations  of  the 
dead  apparently  had  not  influenced  the 
gayety  and  cheerfulness  of  the  child's  na- 
ture, but  one  could  not  help  wishing  he 
might  have  been  brought  up  in  a  less 
dismal  environment.  While  the  graves  of 
many  musicians  were  quite  profusely  deco- 
rated on  that  day,  we  had  the  honor  of 
placing  the  only  wreaths  on  the  tomb  of 
Chopin. 

The  same  summer  found  us,  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  at  Lake  Lucerne  in  Switz- 
29 


Richard  Hoffman 

erland.  My  husband  was  congratulating 
himself  on  escaping  the  usual  noisy  cele- 
bration which  all  good  Americans  must 
endure  on  that  day  when,  to  our  dismay, 
we  were  awakened  at  about  six  in  the 
morning  by  a  tremendous  cannonading 
from  the  opposite  shores  of  the  lake.  We 
were  told  at  breakfast  time  that  a  great 
"Sangerfest"  was  being  held  with  this 
rapid  firing  obligate.  So  at  intervals  be- 
tween the  singing  which  we  crossed  the 
lake  to  hear,  we  were  served  with  as  much 
noise  and  gunpowder  as  would  satisfy  the 
most  zealous  American  citizen.  In  the 
evening  there  were  fireworks  and,  less 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner/'  we  had 
made  a  very  good  celebration. 

Before  returning  home  we  stopped  in 
Manchester  to  see  my  husband's  family, 
and  while  there  we  went  to  one  of  the 
"Gentlemen's  Concerts,"  where  we  heard 
Charles  Halle  play:  he  was  also  conductor 
of  the  orchestra.  As  these  concerts  were 
mostly  patronized  by  subscribers,  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  obtain  seats,  but  through  some 
influence  we  succeeded  in  doing  so.  The 
foundation  of  the  organization  was  of 
such  ancient  date  that  it  was  interesting 

30 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  hear  them  for  this  if  for  no  other  reason. 
Halle  was  a  smooth  and  beautiful  player 
but  did  not  awaken  great  enthusiasm. 
He  usually  played  from  note  and  made 
use  of  an  invention  for  turning  the  leaves, 
worked  by  means  of  a  foot  pedal.  It  was 
so  diverting  to  see  them  turned  by  this 
unseen  agent  that  it  rather  disturbed  the 
musical  "en  train"  to  which  one  would 
like  to  yield  while  listening  to  a  great  artist. 
The  orchestra  of  course  was  excellent,  but 
it  did  not  make  me  feel  that  when  we  re- 
turned to  New  York  and  our  own  Philhar- 
monic Concerts,  the  latter  would  suffer 
greatly  by  comparison. 

We  had  the  good  fortune  while  in  London 
to  hear  Adelina  Patti  in  her  prime,  before 
she  began  the  long  epoch  of  "Farewells" 
which  harrowed  the  feelings  of  at  least 
two  generations  of  Americans.  She  sang  in 
"Rigoletto"  and  "La  Somnambula."  In 
both  she  was  surpassingly  fine.  At  that 
time  she  had  the  throat  of  a  bird  and  her 
trill,  to  which  she  gave  full  play  in  both 
these  operas,  left  her  hearers  speechless  with 
wonder.  We  have  had  nothing  like  it  since. 

The  summer  before  I  had  passed  several 
weeks  at  Dinard  on  the  Brittany  coast, 

31 


Richard  Hoffman 

then  a  simple  resort  and  undiscovered  by 
the  world  of  fashion  that  has  since  pos- 
sessed the  land.  The  only  hotel  in  the 
place  was  a  quiet  simple  house  kept  by 
Mons.  and  Mme.  Nicholas,  whose  son,  a 
man  of  twenty-five  or  more,  had  a  beautiful 
voice  and  often  sang  to  the  accompaniment 
of  a  guitar  in  the  garden  after  dinner.  When 
I  spoke  to  Madame  about  her  son's  voice, 
she  said,  "but  Mademoiselle  should  hear 
his  brother  in  Paris.  He  sings  at  the 
Italiens  with  Madame  Patti."  He  proved 
to  be  the  same  Nicolini  whom  she  after- 
ward married. 

Some  of  my  husband's  pupils  who  studied 
with  him  for  many  years  have  said  that 
they  would  like  to  write  their  own  impres- 
sions of  his  method  of  teaching.  I  heartily 
wish  that  they  might  be  impelled  to  do  so. 
I  have  asked  permission  to  reprint  at  the 
end  of  this  sketch  a  short  article  of  his  own 
on  "How  to  Stimulate  Thought  and  Im- 
agination in  a  Student,"  which  appeared  in 
a  musical  work  published  by  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.  in  1895.  It  will  give  a  far  better 
idea  of  his  system  of  imparting  knowledge 
than  I  could  do.  All  his  pupils  seem  to 
have  held  him  in  most  affectionate  re- 

32 


Adelina  Patti  as  "Marguerite" 


Richard  Hoffman 

membrance,  those  of  the  earliest  days  still 
retaining  after  many  years  their  apprecia- 
tion of  his  instruction  and  their  interest  in 
his  welfare.  He  never  tolerated  indifference 
or  carelessness  in  a  pupil,  but  for  those  who 
were  serious  in  the  study  of  music  or  who 
had  talent  and  a  genuine  love  of  the  art,  he 
would  spend  his  best  and  most  untiring 
efforts.  He  approved  of  leaving  pupils  to 
work  out  for  themselves  problems  of  time 
and  harmony,  and  objected  to  excess  of 
fingering  as  dazzling  to  the  eye,  like  the 
accents  above  the  syllables  in  school  text- 
books; he  thought  that  children  should 
not  be  hampered  by  too  many  signs  and 
signals.  He  often  criticised  the  modern 
method  of  teaching  foreign  languages  in 
our  schools  and  colleges,  which  leaves  the 
pupil  quite  dumb  when  the  occasion  offers 
to  make  practical  use  of  his  laborious 
study  with  dictionary  and  pen.  Could  both 
parties  use  the  deaf  and  dumb  alphabet 
they  might  make  themselves  understood, 
but,  failing  in  this,  the  student  is  left 
wondering  why  so  much  labor  apparently 
has  been  lost. 

During   the   summer   he   did    not   give 
lessons,  and  for  this  season  we  were  in  the 

33 


Richard  Hoffman 

habit  of  making  a  short  sojourn  in  New 
Hampshire.  The  little  strip  of  coast  where 
we  passed  so  many  peaceful  summers  was 
known  as  Little  Boar's  Head  and  situated 
between  Cape  Ann  and  the  old  town  of 
Portsmouth.  At  first  it  was  primitive  and 
unknown,  but  has  since  grown  up  into  a 
very  popular  resort.  Many  interesting  and 
a  few  notable  people  came  and  went  in 
the  aggregate  years  of  those  holiday  months, 
when  the  cards  of  existence  are  shuffled 
and  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  or  Chicago 
are  liable  to  turn  up  in  Maine,  and  those  of 
perhaps  Savannah  or  New  Orleans  meet 
on  the  New  Hampshire  shore.  It  is  mostly 
the  nursery  that  brings  this  about.  It  was 
certainly  responsible  for  our  continuous  re- 
currence at  this  health-giving  spot. 

The  first  summer  of  all  these  years 
brought  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  and  her 
daughters  to  one  of  the  cottages  next  to 
ours.  I  had  always  looked  upon  her  as  one 
of  the  Immortals,  and  I  was  rather  sur- 
prised to  find  that  in  spite  of  her  fame, 
both  in  her  own  country  and  in  England 
where  she  had  been  feted  and  entertained 
by  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  she  still  re- 
mained the  most  simple  and  retiring  per- 

34 


Richard  Hoffman 

son  I  ever  met.  She  passed  the  greater 
part  of  every  fair  day  on  the  beach  attired 
in  a  bathing  suit,  going  in  and  out  of  the 
water  as  she  felt  disposed,  having  a  little 
talk  with  her  friends  on  the  sand,  then 
running  into  the  waves  for  another  dip. 
It  was  difficult  to  realize  that  she  had  pos- 
sessed the  power  to  wield  so  strong  an 
influence  over  one  of  the  most  significant 
questions  in  the  history  of  our  country; 
for  who  can  doubt  that  "Uncle  Tom" 
touched  the  button  that  set  in  motion  the 
hitherto  dormant  minds  of  those  who  felt 
that  slavery  was  out  of  place  in  a  country 
labelling  itself  as  "free"  ?  The  book  has 
been  criticised  as  no  great  literary  achieve- 
ment, which  always  makes  me  think  of 
what  poor  Mercutio  says,  after  he  has  re- 
ceived his  death  thrust  in  the  duel  with 
Tybalt.  "No,  'tis  not  so  deep  as  a  well 
nor  so  wide  as  a  church  door,  but  'tis 
enough,  'twill  serve".  "Uncle  Tom's  Cab- 
in" has  "served"  and  is  still  found  on  the 
shelves  of  every  complete  American  library. 
Mrs.  Stowe  was  prevailed  upon  to  give 
a  reading  for  a  fund  to  erect  a  little  church 
to  be  built  for  the  summer  visitors  and 
chose  some  selections  from  "Old  Town 

35 


Richard  Hoffman 

Folks"  which  had  recently  been  published. 
She  had  no  gift  of  elocution,  but  her  voice, 
though  slightly  veiled  at  first,  as  she 
warmed  to  her  subject  became  clear  and 
distinct.  The  country  folk  from  near  and 
far  came  to  hear  her.  It  is  probable  that 
her  reputation  had  penetrated  farther  into 
remote  country  towns  and  the  log  cabins 
of  the  backwoods  than  that  of  the  greatest 
statesman  who  ever  lived.  It  required  a 
few  more  years  of  fairs,  tableaux,  and  con- 
certs— where  Mr.  Hoffman  played  his 
part — to  complete  the  church;  but  it  now 
stands,  as  St.  Andrew' s-by-the-Sea,  close 
to  the  waves,  and  many  a  good  bishop  and 
eminent  preacher  has  exhorted  its  congre- 
gations to  liberality  and  repentance. 

Mr.  Hoffman  was  the  organist  from  the 
time  it  was  built  until  the  year  1903,  a 
period  of  nearly  thirty  years. 

An  incident  of  one  of  the  early  summers 
which  showed  some  original  ingenuity  on 
the  part  of  one  of  the  natives,  known  as 
"the  Squire,"  greatly  amused  my  hus- 
band. He  (the  squire)  was  extremely  fond 
of  music  and  had  recently  purchased  a  new 
piano  in  Boston.  He  invited  us  to  come 
and  see  it  and,  if  agreeable  to  Mr.  Hoffman, 

36 


Richard  Hoffman 

five  him  a  little  music.  An  evening  was 
xed  and  we  both  went.  On  opening  the 
instrument  we  were  mystified  and  amused 
to  find  pasted  over  the  ivory  keys  the  letters 
of  the  musical  scale  covering  about  two 
octaves.  By  this  means,  and  by  writing 
the  names  of  the  letters  over  the  musical 
notation  of  a  certain  piece  of  music  he 
particularly  liked,  the  squire  was  able  to 
pick  out  die  tunes  himself,  depending  on 
his  ear  for  the  time.  The  title  letters  of 
the  Boston  Transcript  and  Advertiser  fur- 
nished the  necessary  print,  and  I  think  the 
forefinger  of  the  old  squire  did  the  rest. 
On  this  particular  evening  the  village  clergy- 
man was  present  with  his  wife,  and  one  or 
two  other  friends.  My  husband  never 
had  a  more  delighted  audience,  and,  when 
he  stopped  playing,  the  evening  was  closed 
with  prayer,  thanking  the  Almighty  for 
the  privilege  of  listening  to  such  beautiful 
music  and  for  "the  pleasure  of  meeting 
the  talented  musician  from  the  distant  city 
and  his  agreeable  partner  in  life."  The 
humor  and  the  seriousness  of  the  situation 
were  strangely  blended  and  left  one  un- 
certain which  vein  to  follow.  We  have 
laughed  over  it  since,  but  as  we  passed  out 

37 


Richard  Hoffman 

under  the  moon  and  stars  we  felt  inclined 
to  bow  our  heads  and  say  amen  with  the 
preacher. 

Another  year  brought  an  influx  of  Wash- 
ington diplomats.  Mr.  Robeson,  then  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy  under  Grant,  had  a 
cottage,  and  his  wife,  a  woman  of  many 
social  and  musical  attractions,  was  the 
centre  of  this  little  group.  The  Chicker- 
ings  in  Boston  were  very  kind  in  always 
sending  a  piano  for  Mr.  Hoffman's  use,  and 
he  was  constantly  in  demand  for  mornings 
and  evenings  of  music.  Secretaries  of  lega- 
tion from  England,  Germany,  and  Italy, 
Count  and  Countess  Hojos  of  Vienna  (he 
was  one  of  those  in  attendance  on  the 
Crown  Prince  Rudolph  some  years  later 
and  at  the  time  of  his  tragic  death),  all 
made  up  rather  an  unusual  audience  to  as- 
semble in  a  small  New  England  township. 
But  they  all  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  much- 
vaunted  simple  life  and  never  complained 
of  any  lack  of  social  functions  or  modern 
luxury. 

James  G.  Blaine  was  a  frequent  and  in- 
teresting visitor  while  he  was  Secretary  of 
State,  during  Garfield's  administration.  I 
recall  a  particular  occasion  during  that 

38 


Richard  Hoffman 

agitated  summer  of  the  assassination,  when 
Mr.  Elaine  gave  a  vivid  description  of  the 
event.  He  had  been  with  the  President 
when  it  occurred  at  the  railroad  station  in 
Washington,  and,  to  better  illustrate  the 
situation,  he  placed  several  men  in  different 
spots  in  the  main  hall,  my  husband  among 
the  number,  and  described  the  whole  scene 
in  the  most  dramatic  and  thrilling  manner, 
leaving  his  hearers  with  a  sense  of  having 
personally  participated  in  the  national 
tragedy.  The  following  year,  when  Ar- 
thur had  become  President  and  was  on  a 
visit  of  inspection  at  the  Portsmouth 
Navy  Yard,  he  drove  to  Little  Boar's  Head, 
where  he  had  luncheon,  talked  to  the 
guests,  and  was  particularly  friendly  and 
informal.  Mrs.  Arthur,  who  died  before 
her  husband  became  President,  was  a 
musical  amateur  of  taste  and  culture 
whom  Mr.  Hoffman  had  known  quite  well 
in  former  years. 

Bishop  Coxe,  of  western  New  York,  and 
at  that  time  president  of  Hobart  College, 
came  with  his  family  for  two  or  three 
seasons.  His  son-in-law,  Prof.  F.  P.  Nash, 
of  the  same  college,  and  his  brother,  Prof. 
Bennett  H.  Nash,  of  Harvard  Univer- 

39 


Richard  Hoffman 

sity,  were  two  of  my  husband's  warm- 
est friends.  Having  highly  musical  na- 
tures, there  existed  between  them  a  strong 
bond  of  sympathy  and  affectionate  friend- 
ship. In  1893  Mr.  Hoffman  received  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  from  Hobart 
College;  and  although  he  usually  forgot 
to  write  his  title  of  Mus.  Doc.  after  his 
signature,  he  was  fully  entitled  to  do  so. 

In  later  years,  when  a  casino  was  built 
at  Rye  Beach,  about  a  mile  from  where 
we  lived,  he  was  often  asked  to  give 
a  recital,  where  tickets  were  sold,  and 
printed  programmes  gave  it  altogether  a 
professional  tone.  A  grand  piano  came 
from  Boston  for  these  occasions,  always 
thanks  to  Messrs.  Chickering  &  Sons,  and 
a  very  enthusiastic  audience  made  play- 
ing a  real  pleasure.  My  husband  was 
obliged  to  depend  entirely  upon  his  memory 
for  these  recitals,  as  he  brought  very  little 
music  with  him;  but  he  had  a  wonderful 
repertory  in  his  brain  which  always  an- 
swered all  demands  upon  it.  He  was  gradu- 
ally drawn  into  the  custom  of  playing  every 
Sunday  evening  for  the  guests  of  the  house, 
and,  as  the  place  became  more  thickly  popu- 
lated and  hotels  sprang  up,  people  would 
40 


Richard  Hoffman 

come  from  a  distance  to  hear  him.  The 
rooms  and  piazzas  were  often  overflowing, 
and  on  fine  moonlight  nights  any  stranger 
passing  by  might  have  wondered  what  drew 
this  silent  crowd  together  about  one  house. 
Had  they  stopped  to  listen  they  would 
have  heard  the  sound  of  music  floating  on 
the  air.  Young  and  old  gathered  together, 
listening  to  the  inspired  strains  of  Beetho- 
ven, Chopin,  and  Mendelssohn,  or  perhaps 
some  improvisation  on  familiar  melodies 
that  awakened  old  memories  and  started 
the  inevitable  appeal  for  more  and  still 
more.  Of  course  these  recitals  were  never 
prepared;  and  after  half  an  hour  of  serious 
music,  "requests"  would  be  sent  in  for 
certain  compositions.  Memory  always 
proved  a  faithful  servant  and  never  seemed 
to  fail.  So  delightful  and  informal  a  fash- 
ion of  hearing  good  music  it  would  be  hard 
to  find;  for  those  who  were  of  this  favored 
throng  it  is  now  but  a  memory.  I  venture 
to  believe  it  will  ever  remain  a  cherished 
and  abiding  one. 

My  husband's  daily  life  was  tranquil  and 
domestic.  When  in  town  he  spent  all  of 
his  spare  time  in  his  own  home  on  West 


Richard  Hoffman 

43rd  Street,  where  we  lived  for  over  thirty- 
seven  years.  He  was  often  urged  to  join 
certain  clubs,  but  always  declined;  his 
children,  his  music,  and  his  piano  were  all 
the  diversions  he  asked.  For  many  years 
he  was  a  very  hard-working  man,  as,  in 
addition  to  his  own  family  expenses,  the 
support  of  his  parents  devolved  upon  him 
for  nearly  twenty  years. 

He  was  never  happier  than  when  sur- 
rounded by  his  family.  His  early  life  here 
had  been  so  devoid  of  these  ties,  living 
as  he  did  in  a  strange  country  and  always 
in  hotels  or  lodgings,  that  his  married  life 
opened  up  to  him  an  entirely  new  existence. 
We  had  three  sons  and  three  daughters; 
the  first  died  in  infancy,  but  those  who  grew 
up  were  a  source  of  infinite  comfort  and 
delight  to  him.  Curiously  enough,  he  had 
no  ambition  to  see  any  one  of  them  follow 
the  profession  of  music;  they  all  were  fond 
of  it  and  two  daughters  had  strong  musi- 
cal temperament  and  ability — a  source  of 
much  pleasure  and  gratification  to  him — 
but  there  was  never  any  question  of  making 
music  a  life  study.  Our  youngest  daughter 
has  devoted  herself  seriously  to  art  through 
the  medium  of  painting  and  sculpture; 
42 


Richard  Hoffman 

but,  added  to  these,  a  natural  musical  ear 
and  sympathetic  voice  brought  her  closely 
in  touch  with  the  artistic  side  of  her  father's 
life. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Mr.  Hoffman 
was  greatly  in  demand  at  musical  entertain- 
ments of  all  kinds,  either  for  social  or 
charitable  purposes.  In  earlier  years  he 
derived  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  from  these, 
especially  when  he  played  with  those  of  his 
pupils  who  showed  talent  and  musical  taste. 
I  recall  some  delightful  evenings  at  the 
home  of  a  clever  amateur,  who  always  kept 
two  pianos  (in  perfect  tune)  ready  for 
any  occasion.  When  she  and  Mr.  Hoffman 
took  possession  of  these  a  musical  treat 
was  sure  to  follow.  Neither  knew  what  the 
other  was  going  to  play,  but  a  few  chords 
from  one  or  the  other  were  enough  to  give 
the  clue  and  start  a  train  of  thought,  lead- 
ing them  through  a  maze  of  musical  path- 
ways from  symphonies  and  operas  on  to 
dances  and  dreamy  nocturnes,  passing 
from  these  into  familiar  song  melodies  and 
brilliant  waltzes,  all  arranged  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment  without  a  fault  in  harmony 
or  modulation.  Those  who  have  listened  to 
these  fascinating  improvisations  must  re- 

43 


Richard  Hoffman 

member  the  delight  and  enthusiasm  they 
always  inspired. 

He  seldom  accepted  musical  engage- 
ments that  took  him  any  distance  from 
New  York,  but  in  1895  he  played  at 
some  chamber  music  concerts  in  Chicago, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Clayton  Summy 
Co.  and  with  the  Bendix  Quartet.  He 
was  immensely  impressed  on  this  journey 
with  the  difference  between  the  modes  of 
travel  at  that  time  and  those  of  1849,  when 
he  went  with  Joseph  Burke  for  their  first 
concert  tour  in  the  West — the  contrast  be- 
tween the  lake  steamboats  and  modern 
limited  trains,  and  especially  the  present 
displeasing  propensity  for  disfiguring  the 
landscape  with  advertising  signs,  while 
forty  years  ago  you  were  permitted  to  pur- 
sue your  travels  in  peace,  undisturbed  by 
this  irritating  panorama  of  commerce.  I 
find  written  in  pencil  on  the  back  of  one 
of  these  concert  programmes  the  follow- 
ing reflections:  "Hood's  Sarsaparilla  and 
Pitcher's  Castoria  are  forever  before  your 
eyes,  and  added  to  these  a  perpetual  sign  of 
'Saul  the  Clothier'  reducing  the  distance 
to  this  Mecca  from  twenty-five  to  fifteen, 
then  five  miles,  as  you  approach  Chicago, 

44 


Richard  Hoffman 

till  you  are  ready  to  cry  out  in  agony, '  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me!'  Business 
signs  have  no  more  place  in  rural  scenery 
than  music  has  in  the  inside  of  a  hand- 
organ." 

At  one  of  these  concerts  Mr.  Hoffman 
gave  the  Hummel  Septet.  He  was  always 
particularly  fond  of  this  composition,  per- 
haps because,  like  Hummel,  he  was  a  pi- 
anist, and  Hummel  always  gave  the  piano 
a  prominent  place  in  his  ensemble  music. 
He  repeated  this  Septet  at  the  testimonial 
concert  tendered  to  him  by  his  pupils  and 
friends  in  1897,  when  he  completed  his 
fifty  years  of  musical  work  in  this  country. 
This  was  given  in  Chickering  Hall,  and  it 
was  indeed  gratifying  for  him  to  realize 
the  interest  and  affectionate  regard  which 
had  followed  him  throughout  so  many 
years.  Innumerable  letters  and  telegrams 
came  to  him  in  congratulation  of  the  event. 
Some  of  these,  sent  to  Mrs.  C.  B.  Foote, 
an  accomplished  pupil  and  true  friend, 
who  took  upon  herself  the  management  of 
the  concert,  are  well  worth  repeating  here 
to  prove  the  good  feeling  and  grateful  re- 
membrance on  the  part  of  those  who  joined 
in  this  celebration.  The  programme  was 

45 


Richard  Hoffman 

chiefly  made  up  of  "requests,"  and  the 
Dannreuther  Quartet  offered  their  services 
for  the  occasion.  The  New  York  Times 
gave  so  satisfactory  a  description  of  the 
concert,  at  the  same  time  passing  in  review 
the  half  century  of  his  musical  labors,  that 
I  cannot  do  better  than  to  repeat  the  article 
in  full. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  Music 

TESTIMONIAL  CONCERT  TO  MR.  RICHARD 

HOFFMAN,  THE  PIANIST 

Half  a  century  of  activity  in  the  cause  of  music 
in  one  city  is  a  record  that  surely  deserves  to  be 
honored.  Fifty  years  ago  Richard  Hoffman  pi- 
anist, made  his  first  appearance  in  New  York. 
Yesterday  afternoon  he  played  in  a  concert  given 
to  commemorate  that  event  in  his  career.  He 
is  still  tall  and  erect  of  figure,  gentle  and  sweet  of 
countenance,  and  rich  in  enthusiasm  for  his  art. 
The  snows  of  all  those  Winters  that  have  fled  since 
first  he  faced  the  ordeal  of  public  hearing  in  this 
town  have  not  whitened  his  hair.  They  have 
made  it  an  iron  gray,  but  Mr.  Hoffman  looks  as 
if  he  might  yet  live  many  years,  beloved  by  many, 
honored  by  all,  and  full  of  ripe  memories  of  a 


Richard  Hoffman 

career  justly  and  beautifully  rounded  by  a  benign 
old  age. 

The  concert  of  yesterday  afternoon  at  Chicker- 
ing  Hall  was  a  lovely  spectacle.  The  auditorium 
was  almost  filled,  and  there  were  very  few  in  the 
assembly  who  had  not  at  some  time  profited  by 
the  instruction  of  Mr.  Hoffman.  It  was  his  big 
musical  family  that  the  pianist  faced,  and  as  he 
looked  out  over  his  artistic  progeny,  he  must  have 
realized  that  the  years  of  his  labor  had  not  been 
idle,  but  fruitful,  not  only  in  artistic  accomplish- 
ment but  also  in  love  and  even  veneration.  To 
have  arranged  the  concert  was  a  loving  and  a  lovely 
act  of  his  pupils,  and  they  honored  themselves  as 
well  as  their  master  in  doing  so. 

The  programme  consisted  of  Mozart's  G  minor 
piano  quartet,  Bach's  C  major  concerto  for  two 
pianos,  two  piano  solos — Chopin's  D  flat  nocturne 
and  G  minor  ballade — and  Hummel's  septet. 
Mr.  Hoffman  played  the  piano  part  in  all  these 
compositions,  the  second  piano  in  the  Bach  con- 
certo being  played  by  Mrs.  Charles  B.  Foote,  an 
amateur  and  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Hoffman,  in  a  most 
creditable  manner.  In  the  Mozart  quartet,  Gus- 
tav  Dannreuther,  violin;  Otto  K.  Schill,  viola,  and 
Emil  Schenck,  violincello,  were  heard  with  the 
pianist.  In  the  Hummel  septet  Mr.  Dannreuther 
and  Mr.  Schenck  again  played,  and  William 
47 


Richard  Hoffman 

Schade,  flute;  Joseph  Eller,  oboe;  Felix  Leifels, 
contrabasso,  and  a  horn  player  whose  name  did 
not  appear  on  the  programme,  but  whose  work  was 
exceptionally  good,  appeared. 

Mr.  Hoffman's  solo  numbers  afforded  him  espe- 
cial opportunity  for  the  display  of  those  powers 
which  he  has  so  well  preserved.  He  played  the 
nocturne  with  sympathy,  with  clearness,  and  with 
soft  and  subdued  color.  In  the  ballade  his  clean 
and  crisp  delivery  of  running  passages  was  ex- 
cellently displayed,  and  there  was  something  of 
power  in  his  treatment  of  the  broader  passages. 
He  was  heartily  recalled  and,  after  carrying  off  the 
stage  some  very  handsome  floral  pieces,  returned  to 
play  a  movement  from  Schumann's  sonata. 

Many  letters  and  telegrams  were  received 
in  honor  of  the  occasion.  Mr.  Francis 
Hyde,  then  president  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society,  writes:  "It  will  give  me  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure  to  have  my  name  used  in 
connection  with  the  proposed  celebration 
of  Mr.  Richard  Hoffman's  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  beginning  of  his  remarkable 
musical  career  in  this  country.'*  And  Mr. 
Evert  Jansen  Wendell,  out  of  the  fulness  of 
his  heart  and  a  long  friendship,  says:  "I 
honor  your  record,  and  I  honor  you  in 


Richard  Hoffman 

your  home  life.  New  York  is  better  and 
the  world  is  better  for  such  men  and  such 
artists  as  yourself." 

Dr.  Doremus,  from  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  sends  congratulations 
and  adds:  "I  shall  feel  honored  to  have 
my  name  inserted  on  the  list.  I  have  been 
an  ardent  admirer  of  the  musical  genius  of 
Mr.  Hoffman,  and  a  keen  appreciator  of 
his  friendship,  for  half  a  century." 

Messrs.  Chickering  &  Sons,  of  Boston, 
speak  for  themselves  in  the  following  letter : 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  Dec.  6,  1897. 
MR.  RICHARD  HOFFMAN, 

116  West  43rd  Street, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sir:  We  are  much  pleased  to  receive  your 
kind  note  of  December  4th,  and  we  are  more  than 
gratified  at  the  success  of  your  Testimonial  Con- 
cert on  the  occasion  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of 
your  first  public  appearance  in  New  York.  We 
can  assure  you  that  we  are  deeply  sensible  of  the 
strength  of  purpose  that  must  have  dominated  your 
entire  musical  life,  and  it  is  most  refreshing  in  these 
latter  days  to  find  the  entire  press  (representing 
in  certain  ways  the  most  advanced  musical  thought 
of  the  times),  as  well  as  the  most  cultured  and  musi- 
49 


Richard  Hoffman 

cal  portion  of  your  resident  city  are  unanimous 
in  endorsing  in  such  a  public  and  fitting  way  the 
integrity  of  what  you  have  stood  for  and  the  value 
of  what  you  have  done. 

With  our  best  wishes  and  kindest  regards,  we  are, 
Very  truly  yours, 

CHICKERING  &  SONS. 

My  husband  did  not  retire  from  the 
musical  world  after  this  testimonial;  he 
continued  his  teaching  for  some  years  but 
gradually  gave  up  playing  in  public.  He  en- 
joyed greatly  the  society  of  musical  friends 
in  his  own  home,  who  came  from  time  to 
time  and  played  or  sang  with  him.  Among 
these  I  recall  an  interesting  visitor  in  the 
person  of  John  Fiske,  who  enjoyed  an  even- 
ing of  music  as  much  as  any  one  I  have 
ever  met.  He  came  very  informally,  with 
Mrs.  Fiske,  to  make  our  acquaintance — a 
visit  induced  by  mutual  interests  which  at 
once  established  a  friendly  basis,  and  after 
that  with  the  idea  of  asking  Mr.  Hoffman 
to  play  accompaniments  for  songs  which 
he  dearly  loved  to  sing;  but,  first  inviting 
my  husband  to  play  for  him,  the  songs 
were  postponed  and,  I  regret  to  say,  never 
heard.  Mr.  Fiske  called  for  one  favorite 

50 


IS47 


TESTIMONIAL  CONCERT 
'MR.  RICHARD  HOFFMAN 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE 

FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY 

OF  HIS  FIRST  PUBLIC  APPEARANCE  IN  NEW  YORK 

CfcUCKBRINQ    HALL 

WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON,  DECEMBER  FIRST 

AT  THREE  O'CLOCK 


PROGRAMME 

1.  4  QUARTETTE,  G  minor,     .       .       -      Mozart 

MR.  RICHARD  HOFFMAN.  .  PUnOforte 
MR.  GUSTA V  DANNBKUTHBB,  ,  Violin 
MR.  OTTO  K..  8CHILU  .  a>  »  *  Viola 
MR,  BMIL.  SCHENCK..  .  .  .  .Violoncello 

2.  CONCERTO,  C  major,    ....     Bach 

Two  Pianoforte*  with  string  Qtttatette. 
MBS.  CHARLES  B    FQQTK  and 

MR.  RICHARD  HOFFMAN 

3.  PUNO  SOLOS, 

Norton,*.  Op.  27.  NO.  2.  »  /^J,«r»;« 

Ballade.  Op.  23.  «  CflOpW 

MR.  RICHARD  HOFFMAN 

4.  SEPTETTE Hummel 

MR.  RICHARD  ROPFMAN.  ,  Pianoforte 
MR.  WM.SCHAPB.  ..<...  Pl«t« 
MR.  JOSEPH  BLLKR^  ....  Obo« 
MH  OTTO  K.8CHILU.  »  .  .  .  .VloU 

MR.  EMIL  SCHENCK.  .  ,  Violoacello 
MR,  PBHX  LEIFBCa.  „  .  Contra 


Richard  Hoffman 

after  another  and,  these  leading  him  into 
delightful  conversation,  the  evening  melted 
away  and  ended  with  promises  of  a  return 
which  alas!  never  happened. 

Madame  Bresler-Gianoli,  of  the  Man- 
hattan Opera  Company,  was  a  frequent 
visitor  and  enjoyed  bringing  her  music 
and  singing  for  us.  It  was  a  delight  for 
her  to  have  Mr.  Hoffman  play  her  accom- 
paniments, and  her  own  facility  for  reading 
at  sight  made  it  possible  to  bring  out  all 
the  old  operas,  and  lead  her  on  to  singing 
one  after  another.  She  is  a  most  talented 
artist,  always  ready  to  sing  the  less  attrac- 
tive roles  and  sacrifice  personal  success  to 
artistic  truth.  She  usually  brought  her 
little  boy  Henri,  then  six  years  old,  and 
he  soon  became  a  favorite  with  all  of  us. 
One  afternoon  when  Madame  was  going  to 
some  concert  she  left  Henri  in  our  care.  I 
was  obliged  to  go  out  for  a  short  time  and, 
on  returning,  found  him  with  Mr.  Hoff- 
man sailing  boats  in  the  bath  tub,  both 
seemingly  enjoying  themselves  very  much. 
Although  Henri  only  spoke  French  and  my 
husband  found  his  own  knowledge  of  it 
rather  rusty,  they  still  managed  to  under- 
stand each  other,  and  Henri,  in  taking 

51 


Richard  Hoffman 

leave  of  him,  put  his  little  hand  in  his 
and  said:  "Adieu  Vieux,  et  merci" — this 
without  prompting  of  any  kind. 

While  the  Trio  club  continued  its  meet- 
ings Gustav  Dannreuther  and  others  of 
his  quartet  always  rehearsed  at  our  house, 
and  it  was  often  made  the  occasion  to  bring 
in  a  few  privileged  friends  to  hear  them. 
More  recently,  when  these  were  regretfully 
abandoned,  Mr.  Hoffman  still  played  for 
his  own  pleasure  whenever  the  oppor- 
tunity offered.  Samuel  Crimson,  the  vio- 
linist, and  Paul  Morgan,  'cellist,  made  up 
the  "ensemble,"  and  to  these  good  friends 
and  excellent  musicians  we  are  indebted 
for  giving  him  the  last  hours  of  pure  musi- 
cal pleasure  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy. 
The  Brahms  Trio  Op.  101  C  Moll  was  a 
special  favorite.  Anything  more  beautiful 
than  the  third  movement  can  hardly  be 
imagined,  and  when  it  is  played  con  amore 
by  three  good  artists,  it  is  an  uplifting  ex- 
perience not  to  be  lightly  estimated.  The 
Schubert  Trios  No.  I  and  No.  II  were 
often  played,  as  well  as  Schumann  No.  I 
D  Moll.  After  these  more  serious  com- 
positions, it  was  not  unusual  to  improvise 
a  violin  obligato  to  the  Chopin  preludes, 

52 


Richard  Hoffman 

which  lend  themselves  most  charmingly  to 
these  diversions.  Then  would  follow  a 
cup  of  tea  and  a  little  talk,  when  the  in- 
struments would  be  dressed  in  their  warm 
wrappings  and  taken  home  like  good 
children. 

Richard  Hoffman's  compositions  were  al- 
most entirely  for  the  piano,  but  his  last  and 
now  unfinished  work  was  a  trio  for  piano, 
violin,  and  'cello,  which  he  was  writing  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  The  parts  for  the  strings 
were  not  completed,  and  it  is  not  probable 
that  it  can  ever  now  be  played,  but  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  its  development 
and  gave  to  it  all  the  time  and  thought 
his  strength  would  permit.  Many  of  his 
earlier  compositions  that  were  published 
abroad  were  very  popular,  and  a  child's 
song,  entitled  "Ding  Dong,"  which  ap- 
peared in  the  collection  known  as  "The 
Century  Song  Book,"  is  one  of  his  happiest 
achievements  in  more  simple  vein.  At  one 
time  he  composed  a  number  of  church  ser- 
vices and  anthems.  These  were  sung  at 
St.  Bartholomew's,  St.  Thomas's,  and  St. 
John's  churches.  Mr.  Hoffman  had  an 
uncle  in  England — William  Shore — the  au- 
thor of  many  popular  hymns  still  sung  in 

53 


Richard  Hoffman 

the  churches  and  which  he  often  adapted 
to  different  metres  from  anything  he 
fancied,  operatic  or  otherwise.  One  in  par- 
ticular, to  which  "Softly  Now  the  Light  of 
Day"  is  often  sung,  was  taken  note  for 
note  (the  time  only  changed)  from  the 
ballet  music  of  the  opera  of  Oberon. 
Many  people  (not  musicians)  who  take 
offense  at  operatic  selections  being  given 
in  church  have  sung  this  melody  for  half 
a  century  with  extreme  devotional  feel- 
ing, little  knowing  its  light  and  fantastic 
origin. 

At  the  time  when  operatic  fantasias  were 
in  vogue  for  the  piano,  Mr.  Hoffman  made 
a  number  of  transcriptions  which  ran 
through  many  editions;  of  late  years,  with 
the  exception  of  the  piano  pieces  from  the 
Wagner  operas,  his  arrangements  were 
largely  drawn  from  orchestral  works.  The 
Scherzo  from  Mendelssohn's  Scotch  Sym- 
phony, always  a  great  favorite,  was  often 
played  by  him  as  an  encore.  The  diffi- 
culty in  finding  satisfactory  arrangements 
for  the  piano  of  orchestral  music  induced 
him  to  give  much  time  to  this  kind  of  com- 
position: as  a  number  of  selections  from 
the  works  of  Tschaikowsky,  principally  a 

54 


Richard  Hoffman 

set  of  three — the  Scherzo  from  the  Fourth 
Symphony  Op.  36,  the  Andante  from 
Symphony  No.  6,  Op.  64,  and  the  Adagio 
Cantabile  from  the  Sextet  known  as  the 
"Souvenir  de  Florence"  Op.  70.  His  last 
published  composition,  just  issued,  was  a 
little  song  to  the  words  "My  love  is  like  a 
red,  red  rose,"  so  gay  and  light  in  style  that  it 
is  hard  to  believe  it  the  work  of  a  man  who 
was  far  beyond  the  danger  mark  of  life. 
Just  before  this  he  had  written  the  ac- 
companiment to  a  melody  composed  by 
his  daughter  to  words  of  Oscar  Wilde's 
"O  Beautiful  Star."  He  used  to  say  he 
only  entered  the  field  as  a  "chaperon,"  but 
the  combination  was  full  of  loving  interest 
to  many,  and  a  beautiful  letter  from  his 
friend,  Professor  Nash,  of  Hobart  College, 
to  whom  he  sent  a  copy  of  the  song,  I  found 
close  to  his  heart  in  the  coat  he  wore  on 
the  day  of  his  death. 

GENEVA,  N.  Y.,  May  8,  1909. 
MY  DEAR  HOFFMAN: 

There  is  something  so  beautiful,  so  tender,  touch- 
ing, and  lovely  in  your  association  with  dear  M.  in 
musical  authorship,  that  it  would  make  even  a 
piece  of  poor  music  exceedingly  precious  to  me. 

55 


Richard  Hoffman 

To  the  music  of  "Under  the  Balcony,"  which 
would  be  delightful  even  without  this  exquisite 
association,  it  lends  an  added  charm  and  fascina- 
tion beyond  all  expression.  I  cannot  thank  you 
enough  for  sending  me  this  delightful  gift  which  I 
shall  preserve  religiously  and  value  more  highly 
than  you  can  think.  Bless  you  for  feeling  how 
much  I  should  be  pleased  and  touched  to  be  so 
sweetly  remembered! 

Please  congratulate  M.  for  me  on  her  brilliant 
debut  as  a  composer,  and  believe  me  with  sincere 
gratitude,  and  with  best  regards  to  dear  Mrs. 
Hoffman, 

Affectionately  yours, 

FRANCIS  PHILIP  NASH. 

At  one  time  in  his  life  my  husband  was 
sent  for  by  an  old  friend  who  was  dying, 
to  play  for  her  for  the  last  time.  He  an- 
swered the  summons  at  once  and  for  more 
than  an  hour  played  everything  he  knew 
she  loved.  As  he  finished  the  closing 
strains  of  Schubert's  "Wanderer,"  her 
favorite  song,  which  he  had  arranged  for 
the  piano,  the  nurse  appeared  in  the  door- 
way and  he  knew  by  her  look  that  he  need 
not  continue.  I  like  to  think  that  as  our 
friend  passed  beyond  the  barrier  of  this 

56 


Richard  Hoffman 

life  the  echoes  of  his  music  followed  her 
into  the  land  of  rest  and  peace. 

For  the  past  three  years  he  gave  up  the 
summer  journey  to  New  Hampshire,  where 
he  had  the  record  of  being  the  oldest  guest 
in  the  house  of  Albert  Bachelder.  We 
came  instead  to  Mt.  Kisco,  N.  Y.,  in  order 
to  be  near  a  dear  daughter  whose  married 
life  was  of  very  short  duration.  The  loss 
of  this  daughter  and  of  a  son  within 
five  years  brought  us  to  a  realization  of 
his  advanced  age,  as  up  to  that  time  he 
had  continued  his  teaching  and  playing 
without  apparent  failure  of  strength  or 
vigor. 

It  was  soon  after  this  that  the  malady 
made  its  appearance  which  later  proved 
fatal.  Added  to  this,  an  enfeebled  heart 
gave  warning  that  shadows  were  lengthen- 
ing and  the  days  far  spent.  He  still  kept 
his  wonderful  memory  and  facility  of  finger, 
playing  a  little  each  day  and  enjoying  the 
few  pastimes  that  did  not  overtax  his 
strength.  He  took  his  last  drive  in  July 
to  the  home  of  our  neighbor,  Richard 
Harding  Davis.  There  he  passed  an  hour 
or  more  with  Mrs.  Davis  and  played  some 
duets  with  her  mother,  who  is  an  accom- 

57 


Richard  Hoffman 

plished  musician.  Mrs.  Davis  presented 
him  with  a  champion  sheep-dog,  a  gentle 
and  affectionate  creature  who  became  his 
constant  and  devoted  companion. 

No  one  realized  just  yet  that  the  time 
of  last  things  had  come.  A  merciful  veil 
hides  this  knowledge  from  us.  To  know 
when  the  last  time  was  the  last  would  be 
"a  curse  to  blight  all  living  hours."  It 
was  on  the  seventeenth  of  August,  just  at 
the  sunset  hour,  when  the  call  came  and 
was  quickly  answered. 

"Sunset  and  Evening  Star 
And  one  clear  call  for  me, 

O  may  there  be  no  moaning  of  the  Bar 
When  I  put  out  to  sea." 

So  he  left  us  and  the  night  closed  in. 

It  was  afterward  arranged  on  the  day 
of  the  funeral  that  his  own  musical  setting 
to  these  words  should  be  played  on  the 
organ  as  the  casket  was  borne  from  the 
church.  This  was  so  blended  with  the 
strains  of  the  Beethoven  Funeral  March 
that  it  became  a  requiem  of  extraordinary 
pathos  and  solemnity.  As  we  left  the 

58 


Richard   Hoffman,  taken  in  August,   1909, 

with  His  Champion  Sheep  Dog, 

"Sir    Wally  Harkaway" 


Richard  Hoffman 

grave,  heaven's  tears  fell  upon  us,  and  from 
a  friend  came  the  words: 

"Call  me  not  dead,  when  I  have  gone 
into  the  company  of  the  Ever  Living, 
High  and  Glorious."1 


» R.  W.  Gilder. 


Richard  Hoffman's  Hand 

Life  cast  by  Victor  Salvatore 


SOME  MUSICAL  RECOLLECTIONS 
OF  FIFTY  YEARS 


/^\NE  of  the  most  vivid  recollections  of 
my  early  youth  was  when  I  first  heard 
the  "Elijah"  given  at  the  Birmingham  fes- 
tival, and  conducted  by  its  composer,  Felix 
Mendelssohn.  I  was  but  fourteen  years  of 
age  when  I  made  this  memorable  journey 
from  Manchester,  my  native  city,  but  the 
experience  was  destined  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, and  I  recall  its  slightest  detail  as  if 
it  had  been  an  event  of  yesterday. 

I  had  been  brought  up — steeped,  so  to 
speak — in  an  atmosphere  of  music  which 
had  already  determined  my  career.  My  fa- 
ther, who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Hummel  and 
Kalkbrenner,  was  an  organist  and  pianist 
of  merit.  He  was  also  an  excellent  violinist, 
and  always  played  at  the  "Gentlemen's 
Concerts"  in  Manchester,  a  picked  orches- 
tra of  sixty  or  seventy  men.  To  these  con- 
certs I  was  always  taken  and  was  allowed  to 

63 


Richard  Hoffman 

be  on  the  stage  near  my  father,  whose  chair 
I  occupied  while  he  was  playing.  The  Eng- 
lish orchestral  players  (except,  of  course, 
the  'cellos)  always  stood  while  they  played; 
they  were  not  allowed  the  privilege  of  sit- 
ting and  crossing  their  legs  in  the  listless 
manner  which  so  often  offends  the  eye  in 
our  modern  performances.  I  was  taken  to 
these  concerts  from  the  time  I  was  six 
years  old,  and  I  am  told  that  I  often  fell 
asleep  during  a  symphony,  and  that  my 
father  occupied  his  "rests"  in  prodding  me 
with  his  bow.  But  at  fourteen  I  was  very 
wide-awake  on  all  musical  matters,  and 
when  one  of  my  father's  friends,  who  was  a 
musical  critic  on  one  of  the  Manchester 
papers,  offered  to  pay  my  expenses  to  Bir- 
mingham if  I  would  write  him  an  account 
of  the  festival,  I  agreed  at  once.  Indeed, 
for  such  a  reward  I  would  have  engaged  to 
write  an  epic  had  he  so  demanded,  for  I 
was  at  the  age  when  nothing  seemed  im- 
possible. Had  I  not  just  composed  a  sacred 
64 


Richard  Hoffman 

cantata  on  "The  Raising  of  Lazarus," 
doomed,  it  is  true,  for  various  reasons,  not 
the  least  of  which  was  the  opening  recita- 
tive, beginning  thus:  "Now  a  certain  man 
was  sick."  Whether  the  reiteration  of  this 
phrase  offended  the  popular  English  prej- 
udice against  the  word  "sick"  I  know  not, 
but  my  Lazarus  was  entombed  then  and 
there,  never  to  rise  again. 

I  set  forth  quite  alone  on  a  railway  jour- 
ney which  at  that  time  occupied  nearly  six 
hours  from  Manchester.  When  I  reached 
Birmingham  I  wandered  about  the  town 
with  as  little  idea  of  where  I  was  to  sleep 
that  night  as  the  most  homeless  of  tramps, 
but  I  was  not  troubled  about  any  inci- 
dental trifles  of  this  kind.  I  had  not  come 
to  sleep,  but  to  hear  and  to  see,  and  so  long 
as  I  reached  the  Town  Hall  where  the  fes- 
tival was  held,  I  cared  for  little  else.  As  I 
was  gazing  about  the  streets  I  was  fortunate- 
ly seen  by  Miss  Maria  Hawes,  a  well-known 
English  singer  of  that  day,  who  happened 

65 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  be  driving  by  in  a  cab,  and  who  was  to 
sing  at  the  festival.  She  was  a  friend  of 
my  family,  and  stopped  the  cab  to  inquire 
what  I  was  doing  in  Birmingham.  I  told 
her  I  had  come  for  the  "Elijah,"  like  every 
one  else,  and  then  only  was  I  brought  back 
to  a  sense  of  things  temporal,  such  as  tickets 
and  hotels.  She  gave  me  a  pass  for  the  re- 
hearsal on  that  evening,  and  directed  me  to 
the  Town  Hall,  where  she  advised  me  to  go 
at  once  to  procure  a  ticket  for  the  concert 
of  the  next  day.  When  I  reached  there  I 
found  that  every  seat  was  taken,  and  I  was 
forced  to  be  content  with  what  is  called  a 
promenade  entrance.  After  this  I  turned 
my  steps  toward  the  largest  hotel  in  the 
city,  called  by  the  attractive  name  of  "The 
Hen  and  Chickens."  There  I  was  fortu- 
nate enough  to  win  the  sympathies  of  the 
barmaid,  who,  after  telling  me  that  every 
bed  in  the  house  was  "bespoke,"  took  pity 
upon  my  loneliness  and  admitted  that  one 
room  which  had  been  engaged  was  not  yet 
66 


Richard  Hoffman 

claimed,  and  that  if  the  people  did  not  ar- 
rive by  nine  o'clock  I  might  have  it.  I  sup- 
pose they  gave  me  some  supper,  but  I  have 
forgotten  about  it;  I  only  remember  that  I 
went  as  early  as  possible  to  the  rehearsal, 
and  that  I  was  admitted  on  Miss  Hawes's 
order.  I  had  a  seat  by  the  side  of  the  or- 
ganist, Dr.  Gauntlet,  whom  I  assisted  af- 
terward by  pulling  out  the  organ  stops  for 
him,  and  full  of  delightful  excitement  I 
awaited  the  entrance  of  the  great  Men- 
delssohn. 

How  well  I  recall  that  small,  lithe  figure, 
the  head  rather  large,  face  long  and  oval, 
eyes  prominent  but  full,  large,  and  lustrous, 
beaming  with  the  light  of  genius.  I  fol- 
lowed every  motion  and  gesture,  and,  in 
breathless  expectancy,  waited  for  him  to 
lift  his  baton.  I  cannot  hope  to  describe 
my  musical  impressions  and  emotions  on 
this  occasion,  since  some  one  has  aptly  said 
that  "music  begins  where  language  leaves 
off,"  but  I  remember  well  how  he  drilled 
67 


Richard  Hoffman 

the  chorus,  making  them  repeat  many  times 
the  Recitative  in  the  first  part,  which  il- 
lustrates the  talking  together  of  many  peo- 
ple, and  his  evident  wish  to  give  the  effect  of 
a  confusion  of  voices.  Once  or  twice  during 
the  rehearsal  he  came  up  to  Dr.  Gauntlet 
to  say:  "Not  so  loud;  push  in  such  and 
such  a  stop."  But  as  soon  as  his  back  was 
turned,  Gauntlet  would  say  to  me  quickly: 
"  Pull  them  out  again,  pull  them  out  again." 
He  was  obliged  to  play  from  the  full  score 
as  no  organ  part  had  been  written  out,  and 
his  own  discretion  was  all  he  could  rely 
upon  in  many  places,  but  Mendelssohn 
had  perfect  confidence  in  his  judgment, 
as  well  as  admiration  for  his  ability  as  an 
organist  and  musician,  and  especially  se- 
lected him  to  be  the  organist  on  this  oc- 
casion. 

To  remember  that  I  so  far  assisted  in  this 

first  performance  of  the  "Elijah,"  even  in 

so  small  a  way,  has  always  been  a  source  of 

satisfaction  to  me.     Miss  Dolby  was  the 

68 


Richard  Hoffman  as  a  Boy 


Richard  Hoffman 

contralto,  and  the  tenor,  Lockey,1  whose 
singing  of  "If  With  all  Your  Hearts,"  will 
ever  remain  with  me  as  the  most  exquisite 
thing  I  ever  heard. 

After  the  rehearsal  I  returned  to  the  shel- 
ter of  "The  Hen  and  Chickens."  The  bar- 
maid was  looking  out  for  me,  and  I  was 
relieved  to  hear  that  I  might  occupy  the  un- 
claimed room.  By  the  light  of  a  solitary 
candle  I  was  escorted  to  one  of  the  largest 
apartments  in  the  house,  containing  two 
monstrous  double  beds,  and  was  told  that  I 
might  take  my  choice  of  either  as  I  was  to 
be  the  sole  occupant  of  this  capacious  lodg- 
ing. I  can  remember  very  well  the  reaction 
which  set  in  after  my  excitement,  and  the 
loneliness  and  desolation  to  which  I  fell  a 
victim  when  I  was  left  alone  among  the  dark 
hangings  and  cold  sheets.  But  all  this  was 
forgotten  the  next  morning  when  I  entered 
the  coffee  room.  Here  was  a  stirring  scene. 

1  Mendelssohn  speaks  of  this  young  English  tenor  in 
his  letters.  See  Vol.  1833  to  1847,  Page  363- 

69 


Richard  Hoffman 

Every  musician  of  note  in  Europe  and  the 
United  Kingdom  seemed  to  be  assembled 
there — pianists,  violinists,  singers,  and  com- 
posers. I  have  never,  at  any  subsequent 
period  of  my  life,  been  in  the  midst  of  such 
a  galaxy  of  talent  and  genius.  One  theme 
was.  the  subject  of  all  conversation — Men- 
delssohn, as  conductor,  as  composer,  and 
as  pianist,  though  he  did  not  on  this  oc- 
casion exercise  the  latter  talent. 

At  the  performance  that  morning  (the 
festivals  were  at  eleven  o'clock)  I  was  forced 
to  stand  for  nearly  four  hours  in  a  dense 
crowd,  but  I  was  quite  oblivious  to  such 
effort  when  a  musical  treat  was  in  question. 
Not  long  before  this  I  had  stood  outside 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre  in  London  in  just 
such  another  crowd,  waiting  for  the  gallery 
doors  to  open,  on  a  Jenny  Lind  opera  night. 

Mendelssohn  was  one  of  the  best  con- 
ductors, but  he  would  seldom  beat  more 
than  the  first  sixteen  or  twenty-four  bars  of 
an  overture  or  movement  from  a  symphony; 
70 


Richard  Hoffman 

he  would  then  lay  down  his  baton  and 
listen,  often  applauding  with  the  audience. 
He  would  take  it  up  again  when  he  wished 
a  crescendo  or  rallentando  or  any  other 
effect  not  noted  in  the  parts. 

The  sensation  produced  by  the  last 
chorus  of  the  first  part  of  the  "Elijah," 
"Thanks  be  to  God,"  was  truly  wonderful. 
One  felt  as  if  the  Divine  Presence  had  been 
evoked,  so  impressive,  so  awe-inspiring 
was  its  effect  upon  the  listeners.  The  mar- 
vellous effect  of  the  rain  and  rushing  of 
waters  given  by  the  violins,  and  the  stu- 
pendous bass  F  fortissimo,  was  beyond 
human  conception.  I  think  Prospere  with 
his  monstrous  ophicleide  added  materially 
to  this  splendid  tone  effect.  In  the  chorus 
of  the  priests  of  Baal  the  brass  was  particu- 
larly fine.  The  bass  part  was  sung  by 
Herr  Staudigl,  whose  broken  English  took 
nothing  away  from  the  effect  of  Elijah's 
declamation.  He  possessed  a  grand  voice, 
and  I  have  often  heard  him  sing  Schubert's 


Richard  Hoffman 

"Wanderer,"  ending  with  the  low  E  of  the 
first  ledger-line  below  the  bass  staff. 

The  performance  finished  with  an  Italian 
programme  which  fell  very  flat  after  the 
tremendous  enthusiasm  evoked  by  the 
"Elijah."  Mario  sang  the  "Cujus  Ani- 
mam,"  and  Madame  Grisi  gave  a  number 
or  two,  but  the  impression  of  all  this  part  of 
the  festival  has  faded  from  my  mind.  I 
have  heard  Mario  and  Grisi  many  times 
since,  when  I  have  been  ready  to  lay  my 
tribute  of  admiration  at  their  feet,  but  on 
this  occasion  when  Mendelssohn  left  the 
stage  the  lights  seemed  to  go  out,  and  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  any  one 
else  to  arouse  the  audience  again. 

The  festival  programmes  were  bound  to 
cover  a  good  deal  of  ground  and  a  certain 
length  of  time,  and  were  calculated  to  at- 
tract all  classes.  People  came  from  great 
distances  and  expected  to  hear  as  many 
artists  and  as  much  music  as  possible  for 
their  money.  The  expenses  of  the  per- 
72 


Richard  Hoffman 

formances  were  defrayed  by  the  city,  and 
the  profits  went  toward  the  support  of  the 
different  charitable  objects,  chiefly  hospi- 
tals. They  are  still  maintained  on  this 
principle,  and  continue  to  exercise  a  certain 
influence  over  the  musical  world  of  to-day. 
On  this  occasion  there  were  about  one 
hundred  in  the  orchestra  and  over  two 
hundred  in  the  chorus. 

The  English  seem  by  nature  the  best 
chorus  singers  in  the  world.  Many  of  them 
are  from  the  lower  middle  classes,  who  are 
not  as  a  rule  very  cultured  or  refined,  but 
the  moment  the  spirit  of  music  is  awakened 
within  them  they  are  for  the  time  being 
transformed,  and  able  to  interpret  composi- 
tions of  the  most  lofty  and  sublime  charac- 
ter. Mendelssohn  says,  in  the  same  letter 
before  mentioned:  "Not  less  than  four 
choruses  and  four  airs  were  encored,  and 
not  one  single  mistake  occured  in  the  whole 
of  the  first  part,"  and  further  on  he  adds: 
"Not  the  slightest  sound  was  to  be  heard 
73 


Richard  Hoffman 

among  the  whole  audience,  so  that  I  could 
sway  at  pleasure  the  enormous  orchestra 
and  choir,  and  also  organ  accompaniments 
...  all  executing  the  music  with  the  utmost 
fire  and  sympathy,  doing  justice  not  only 
to  the  loudest  passages,  but  also  to  the 
softest  pianos  in  a  manner  which  I  never 
before  heard/' 

When  Mendelssohn  came  to  Manchester 
not  long  after  the  Birmingham  festival,  I 
had  the  great  pleasure  of  meeting  and  talk- 
ing with  him.  My  father  was  desirous  of 
sending  me  to  Germany  to  continue  my 
musical  education  under  his  care,  but  his 
many  engagements  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  assume  any  other  responsibilities, 
and  the  plan  was  consequently  abandoned. 

My  musical  studies  went  on  mostly  under 
my  father's  guidance,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  lessons  from  Leopold  de  Meyer,  the 
"lion  pianist,"  as  he  was  called.  He  was 
one  of  my  youthful  infatuations,  and  noth- 
ing would  satisfy  me  but  to  go  to  London 
74 


Leopold  de  Meyer 

From  a  caricature  after  Dantan 


Richard  Hoffman 

3nd  have  s°me  lessons  from  him      T, 


trades- 


combination  of  "1  b         " 


Richard  Hoffman 

caricatures,  representing  him  as  playing 
with  feet  as  well  as  hands,  while  the  air 
about  him  was  filled  with  the  fragments  of 
pianos  and  notes,  the  terror-stricken  au- 
dience escaping  as  best  they  might  from 
his  volcanic  technique.  He  was  the  au- 
thor of  many  brilliant  and  effective  piano 
compositions  not  destined,  however,  to 
survive  a  short-lived  popularity. 

While  in  London  I  stayed  with  Giulio 
Regondi,  a  friend  of  my  family,  and  at  that 
time  a  prominent  figure  in  musical  society. 
He  played  the  guitar  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner,  as  well  as  the  concertina,  a  small 
reed  instrument  invented  by  Wheatstone  of 
telegraph  fame.  A  most  lovely  quality  of 
tone  was  produced  by  the  mixture  of  differ- 
ent metals  composing  the  reeds,  and  Re- 
gondi's  genius  developed  all  its  possibilities. 
A  criticism  from  one  of  the  Manchester 
papers  of  that  time  describing  his  playing 
when  he  appeared  there  as  a  youth,  gives 
so  good  an  idea  of  his  unique  style,  which 
76 


Richard  Hoffman 

for  the  time  being  held  his  audience  spell- 
bound, that  I  copy  it  verbatim  from  my  fa- 
ther's scrap-book:  "Giulio  Regondi  quite 
took  the  audience  by  surprise.  That  an 
instrument  hitherto  regarded  as  a  mere 
toy — the  invention,  however,  of  a  philo- 
sophical mind — should  be  capable  of  giving 
full  expression  to  a  brilliant  violin  concerto 
of  De  Beriot's,  was  more  than  even  musi- 
cians who  had  not  heard  this  talented  youth 
would  admit.  The  close  of  every  move- 
ment was  greeted  with  a  round  of  applause 
in  which  many  members  of  the  orchestra 
joined.  The  performer  has  much  of  the 
'fanatico  per  la  musica'  in  his  appearance, 
and  manifestly  enthusiastic  love  for  his 
art;  he  hangs  over  and  hugs  his  little  box 
of  harmony  as  if  it  were  a  casket  of  jewels, 
or  an  only  and  dearly  loved  child.  His 
trills  and  shakes  seem  to  vibrate  through  the 
frame,  and  occasionally  he  rises  on  tiptoe, 
or  flings  up  his  instrument  as  he  jerks  out 
its  highest  notes,  looking  the  while  like  one 
77 


Richard  Hoffman 

rapt  and  unconscious  of  all  outward  ob- 
jects, in  the  absorbing  enjoyment  of  the 
sweet  sounds  that  flow  from  his  magical 


instrument." 


He  played  the  most  difficult  music  which 
he  adapted  to  the  powers  or  limitations  of 
the  little  concertina.  Among  other  things, 
a  concerto  of  Spohr,  which  astonished  every 
one. 

My  father  knew  him  first  when,  as  a 
child  in  Manchester,  he  was  travelling 
about  with  the  man  who  called  himself  his 
father,  but  whose  subsequent  conduct  be- 
lied any  such  claim.  When  the  boy  had 
made  a  large  sum  of  money  by  his  concerts, 
and  seemed  able  to  maintain  himself  by  his 
talents,  the  so-called  father  deserted  him, 
taking  with  him  all  the  proceeds  of  the 
child's  labors,  and  leaving  poor  Giulio  to 
shift  for  himself.  My  father  befriended 
him  at  this  time,  and  his  gentle  and  winning 
disposition  endeared  him  to  all  my  family. 
Later  in  his  life  when  a  young  man  in  Lon- 

78 


Richard  Hoffman 

don,  he  often  took  charge  of  me,  and  twice 
we  went  to  Paris  together  where  we  enjoyed 
some  of  the  choicest  musical  treats.  I  heard 
with  him  all  the  great  singers  and  musicians 
of  the  day,  Tamburini  and  Lablache,  Grisi 
and  Mario,  Alboni  and  Persiani,  and  most 
of  these  before  I  was  sixteen  years  old.  He 
taught  me  to  play  the  concertina,  but  never 
converted  me  to  any  serious  affection  for 
the  instrument,  although  to  hear  Regondi 
play  upon  it  was  always  a  delight.  Ber- 
lioz1 in  his  "Orchestral  School"  has  a 
treatise  on  the  concertina,  which  he  re- 
garded with  considerable  favor. 

Regondi' s  playing  of  the  guitar  always 
seemed  to  me  his  most  remarkable  achieve- 
ment; he  had  added  to  the  instrument  two 
or  three  covered  strings  without  frets,  which 
he  used  at  will,  and  the  wonderful  expres- 
sion he  could  impart  to  his  melodies  I  have 
never  heard  excelled  by  any  voice.  I  have 
heard  him  play  Thalberg's  "Huguenots" 

'See  Berlioz,  "Art  of  Instrumentation." 

79 


Richard  Hoffman 

and  the  "Don  Juan,"  Op.  14,  making  the 
guitar  respond  to  the  most  difficult  varia- 
tions with  perfect  ease. 

Mrs.  Hemans  made  him  the  subject  of 
the  following  poem: 

TO   GIULIO   REGONDI — THE   BOY  GUITARIST 

Blessing  and  love  be  round  thee  still  fair  boy! 
Never  may  suffering  wake  a  deeper  tone 
Than  Genius  now,  in  its  first  fearless  joy, 
Calls  forth  exulting  from  the  chords  which  own 
Thy  fairy  touch!  O,  may'st  thou  ne'er  be  taught 
The  power  whose  fountain  is  in  troubled  thought! 

For  in  the  light  of  those  confiding  eyes, 
And  on  the  ingenuous  calm  of  that  clear  brow, 
A  dower,  more  precious  e'en  than  genius,  lies, 
A  pure  mind's  worth,  a  warm  heart's  vernal  glow! 
God,  who  hath  graced  thee  thus,  O  gentle  Child! 
Keep  midst  the  world  thy  brightness  undefiled! 

Her  beneficent  wishes  for  his  welfare, 

were    alas!    never   realized;     for   him   the 

" cruel  wintry  wind "  was  not  "more  unkind 

than  man's  ingratitude."     His  history  was 

80 


Giulio  Regondi 


Richard  Hoffman 

sad  and  full  of  mystery,  which  doubtless 
added  further  attraction  to  his  talents,  and 
many  were  the  stories  whispered  as  to  his 
birth  and  parentage.  He  was  much  sought 
after  in  London,  and  a  great  favorite  with 
the  nobility,  of  whom  many  were  his  pupils 
and  devoted  friends.  He  was  the  constant 
guest  of  two  old  ladies  of  the  Bourbon 
aristocracy  living  in  London,  who  treated 
him  "en  prince/'  and  always  rose  when  he 
entered  their  salon.  He  never  revealed  to 
any  one  his  connection  with  these  people, 
but  I  have  always  thought  he  belonged  to 
them  "de  race."  We  were  in  constant 
correspondence  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  early  seventies. 
His  lovely  spirit  passed  away  after  many 
months  of  suffering  from  that  most  cruel  of 
all  diseases,  cancer. 

I  remember  that  a  certain  hope  of  re- 
prieve from  the  dread  sentence  of  death 
was  instilled  by  his  physician  or  friends,  by 
telling  him  that,  if  only  he  could  obtain 
81 


Richard  Hoffman 

some  of  the  American  condurango  plant, 
which  at  that  time  was  supposed  to  be  a 
cure  for  this  malady,  he  might,  at  least,  be 
greatly  relieved.  I  sent  him  a  quantity  of 
the  preparation,  but  it  failed  to  help  him, 
and  so  he  died,  alone,  in  London  lodgings, 
but  not  uncared  for,  nor  yet  "unwept,  un- 
honored,  or  unsung/'  His  fame  was  too 
closely  allied  to  his  personality  to  endure 
after  him,  save  in  the  hearts  of  those  who 
knew  him  best,  but  while  he  lived  he  showed 
himself  a  true  and  noble  artist,  full  of  the 
finest  and  most  exalted  love  of  music,  a 
man  whom  to  know  was  in  itself  a  privilege 
not  to  be  over-estimated. 

I  think  it  was  in  1840  or  1841,  in  Man- 
chester, that  I  first  heard  Liszt,  then  a 
young  man  of  twenty-eight.  At  that  time 
he  played  only  bravura  piano  compositions, 
such  as  the  "Hexameron"  and  "Hungarian 
March"  of  Schubert,  in  C  minor,  arranged 
by  himself.  I  recollect  his  curious  appear- 
ance, his  tall,  lank  figure,  buttoned  up  in  a 
82 


Richard  Hoffman 

frock  coat,  very  much  embroidered  with 
braid,  and  his  long,  light  hair  brushed 
straight  down  below  his  collar.  He  was 
not  at  that  time  a  general  favorite  in  Eng- 
land, and  I  remember  that  on  this  occasion 
there  was  rather  a  poor  house.  A  criticism 
of  this  concert  which  I  have  preserved  from 
the  Manchester  Morning  Post  will  give  an 
idea  of  his  wonderful  playing.  After  some 
introduction  it  goes  on  to  say:  "He  played 
with  velocity  and  impetuosity  indescrib- 
able, and  yet  with  a  facile  grace  and  pli- 
ancy that  made  his  efforts  seem  rather  like 
the  flight  of  thought  than  the  result  of 
mechanical  exertion,  thus  investing  his  ex- 
ecution with  a  character  more  mental  than 
physical,  and  making  genius  give  elevation 
to  art.  One  of  the  most  electrifying  points 
of  his  performance  was  the  introduction  of 
a  sequence  of  thirds  in  scales,  descending 
with  unexampled  rapidity;  and  another,  the 
volume  of  tone  which  he  rolled  forth  in  the 
execution  of  a  double  shake.  The  rapture 

83 


Richard  Hoffman 

of  the  audience  knew  no  bounds,"  etc. 
I  fancied  I  saw  the  piano  shake  and  tremble 
under  the  force  of  his  blows  in  the  "Hun- 
garian March."  I  regret  that  I  never  had 
an  opportunity  of  hearing  him  later  in  life, 
when  I  am  sure  I  should  have  had  more 
pleasure  both  in  his  playing  and  his  pro- 
grammes. He  had  appeared  some  six- 
teen years  before  in  Manchester,  in  1824, 
as  a  youthful  phenomenon,  in  an  engage- 
ment made  for  him  by  Mr.  Andrew  Ward, 
my  father's  partner.  He  stayed  at  his 
house  while  there,  as  the  following  letter 
specifies;  both  letters  form  part  of  a  cor- 
respondence between  Mr.  Ward  and  the 
elder  Liszt  on  this  matter. 

LONDON,  July  29,  1824. 

Dear  Sir:  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the 
27th  inst.  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  I  wish 
my  Son  to  play  as  follows:  viz: — At  the  first 
concert,  a  grand  Concerto  for  the  Piano  Forte 
with  orchestral  accompaniment  composed  by 
Hummel,  and  the  "Fall  of  Paris"  also  with 
84 


Liszt  when  a  Young  Man 


Richard  Hoffman 

grand  orchestral  accompaniment  composed  by 
Moscheles. 

At  the  ad  Concert — Variations  with  orches- 
tral accompaniments  composed  by  Charles 
Czerni,  and  afterwards  an  Extempore  Fantasia 
on  a  written  Thema  which  Master  Liszt  will 
respectfully  request  any  person  of  the  Company 
to  give  him. 

We  intend  to  start  to-morrow  afternoon  at 
three  o'clock  by  the  Telegraph  Coach  from 
the  White  Horse  Fetter  lane,  and  as  we  are  en- 
tire strangers  to  Manchester  it  will  be  very 
agreeable  to  us  if  you  will  send  some  one  to 
meet  us. 

M.  Erard's  pianoforte  will  be  in  your  town 
on  Sunday  morning  as  I  shall  be  glad  for  my 
son  to  play  upon  that  instrument. 

I  remain,  Dear  Sir, 

Yr  very  humble  Servant, 

LISZT. 

15  GT.  MARYBOROUGH  STREET, 

July  22,  1824. 

Mr.  Liszt  presents  his  compliments  to  Mr. 
Roe  and  begs  to  say,  that  the  terms  upon  which 
he  will  take  his  son  to  Manchester  to  play  at  the 

8s 


Richard  Hoffman 

concerts  of  the  second  and  fourth  of  August 
next  will  be  as  follows : 

Mr.  Liszt  is  to  receive  one  hundred  pounds 
and  be  provided  with  board  and  lodgings  in  Mr. 
Ward's  house  during  his  stay  in  Manchester  for 
his  son  and  himself,  and  Mr.  Liszt  will  pay  the 
travelling  expenses  to  and  from  Manchester. 

Thalberg  was  a  contemporary  of  Liszt  in 
age,  but  did  not  appear  in  public  until  much 
later.  He  was  equally  astonishing  in  his 
novel  passages  for  the  piano-forte,  which  he 
accomplished  with  the  greatest  ease,  and 
without  any  theatrical  effect.  His  method 
of  sustaining  the  melody  by  the  pedal, 
while  both  hands  roamed  from  one  end  of 
the  key-board  to  the  other,  was  so  marvel- 
lous that  the  audience  used  to  stand  up  to 
see  how  it  was  done.  I  saw  more  of  Thai- 
berg  during  his  engagement  in  this  country 
in  1852.  I  heard  him  play  at  all  his  con- 
certs, and  I  was,  and  still  remain,  an  ardent 
admirer  of  his  brilliant  and  facile  tech- 
nique. As  a  boy  I  learned  nearly  all  of  his 
86 


Richard  Hoffman 

compositions  and  operatic  arrangements, 
and  have  never  forgotten  them,  although  I 
have  not  looked  at  the  notes  for  twenty-five 
years  or  more. 

Of  the  women  pianists  of  those  days, 
Mesdames  Pleyel  and  Dulcken  were  among 
the  best,  and  Mile.  Claus  was  also  a  charm- 
ing player,  and  particularly  good  in  Bach. 
All  these  I  listened  to  with  avidity;  my 
appetite  for  music  was  never  satisfied,  and 
as  my  father  knew  and  entertained  many 
of  the  musicians  and  singers  who  came  to 
Manchester,  I  was  much  favored  in  oppor- 
tunity to  hear  them. 

The  Novello  sisters,  daughters  of  Vin- 
cent Novello  of  London,  were  great  friends 
of  my  family.  Both  were  charming  singers, 
but  Clara,  the  elder,  was  a  special  favorite 
and  in  great  demand  at  the  English  festi- 
vals. She  always  stayed  at  my  uncle's 
house  whenever  she  came  to  Manchester 
and  was  greatly  beloved  by  all  of  us.  I  was 
very  young  at  the  time  of  her  greatest 
87 


Richard  Hoffman 

triumphs,  but  I  was  taken  to  hear  her  sing 
and  can  still  recall  her  beautiful  voice  and 
charming  manner.  She  was  remarkably 
handsome  and  in  the  height  of  her  fame 
she  married  an  Italian  nobleman,  Count 
Gigliucci,  who  took  her  to  Rome,  where 
she  is  still  living,  greatly  courted  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  know  her.1  Miss  Sy- 
billa  and  Mr.  J.  Alfred  Novello  kindly  as- 
sisted at  the  only  concert  I  gave  in  London 
before  coming  to  this  country,  at  Erard's 
rooms. 

Those  of  my  recollections  which  ante- 
date the  half  century  are  hardly  mature 
enough  to  be  of  special  interest,  but  they 
are  more  numerous  than  one  would  sup- 
pose, as  the  tendency  of  that  time  was  to 
force  juvenile  talent  far  beyond  what 
would  be  tolerated  at  the  present  day.  I 
performed  at  public  concerts  from  the  age 
of  six,  and  at  twelve  I  was  playing  on  three 

1  The  Countess  Gigliucci  has  died  since  these  recollections 
were  written. 


Richard  Hoffman 

different  instruments — piano,  violin,  and 
concertina — in  one  evening.  Besides  this, 
I  was  already  quite  well  acquainted  with 
the  organ,  and  often  took  my  father's  place 
on  Sunday  afternoons.  When  I  was  hardly 
thirteen  years  of  age  my  name  was  sent  in 
as  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  organist 
at  the  Prestwich  Parish  Church.  Lord 
Wilton,  an  excellent  musical  amateur,  had 
this  appointment  as  well  as  the  living  of 
the  church  at  his  disposition,  and  I  was 
invited  to  go  to  Heaton  Park,  his  country 
seat  near  Manchester,  to  play  for  him.  I 
was  sent  on  this  long  drive  quite  alone  in  a 
cab,  at  about  nine  in  the  evening,  in  order 
to  reach  there  after  dinner.  I  well  recall 
the  ordeal  of  that  memorable  occasion.  I 
was  ushered  into  the  drawing-room  at 
about  ten  o'clock,  the  guests  being  all  as- 
sembled after  dinner.  There  was  an  organ 
at  one  end,  as  well  as  a  grand  piano,  and  I 
had  hoped  to  be  asked  to  play  on  the  latter, 
but  his  lordship  conducted  me  to  the  organ 


Richard  Hoffman 

and  told  me  that  he  wished  to  judge  chiefly 
of  my  reading  at  sight.  He  put  before  me 
some  old  chorals  with  figured  bass  and 
asked  me  to  play  them.  I  must  have  done 
so  rather  creditably,  as  he  seemed  pleased 
and  satisfied  and  told  me  I  could  try  the 
service  the  following  Sunday.  In  the  morn- 
ing I  conducted  myself  very  well  and  was 
much  praised  for  it,  but  in  the  afternoon  I 
was  probably  tired  (it  will  be  remembered 
I  was  only  twelve  years  old)  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  second  chant,  when  most  of 
the  stops  were  out,  and  I  was  putting  on 
all  the  steam  I  could  command,  I  suddenly 
lost  my  balance  on  the  organ  bench,  my 
foot  slipping  off  the  swell  pedal,  and  fell 
headlong  onto  the  key-boards.  In  trying 
to  avert  the  catastrophe  I  plunged  from 
Scylla  into  Charybdis,  tumbling  among  the 
foot  pedals  and  creating  a  cataclysm  of 
sounds  that  must  have  scandalized  the  con- 
gregation. I  recall  in  a  vague  sort  of  way 
that  my  brothers  never  considered  the  dis- 
90 


Richard  Hoffman 

aster  in  the  light  of  an  accident.  I  was  not 
very  anxious  to  obtain  the  position  with  the 
work  it  entailed,  and  it  is  barely  possible  I 
may  have  taken  this  way  out  of  it.  ...  Be 
this  as  it  may,  Lord  Wilton  wrote  to  my 
father  praising  my  talents,  but  stating  that 
he  considered  me  too  young  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  directing  the  choir.  I  had 
a  delightful  walk  with  the  rector's  daugh- 
ter between  the  services  in  their  lovely 
garden;  they  had  kept  me  to  luncheon,  the 
distance  being  too  great  for  me  to  return 
home,  and  I  wish  she  might  know  how 
gratefully  I  recall  her  hospitality  of  the 
morning,  and  her  sympathy  of  the  after- 
noon. 

My  father  was  so  great  an  enthusiast  hi 
the  cause  of  music  that  he  brought  up  all 
his  children  to  follow  it  as  a  profession. 
We  were  a  large  family,  and  the  ground 
was  already  well  occupied  with  aspirants, 
hence  it  was  decided,  in  response  to  an  in- 
vitation from  an  uncle  living  in  New  York, 
91 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  let  me  try  my  fortune  in  the  United 
States.  I  played  at  a  concert  in  Manchester 
given  by  my  friend  Regondi  the  night 
before  I  started  for  Liverpool,  from  whence 
I  was  to  sail  on  the  Cunard  steamship 
Cambria,  with  Captain  Judkins. 

I  was  about  sixteen  years  old  at  this  time, 
and  when  I  went  on  board  to  find  that  no 
stateroom  or  berth  had  been  reserved  for 
me,  I  began  to  feel  considerably  cast  down 
and  low  in  my  mind.  My  father  knew  Cap- 
tain Judkins,  who  very  kindly  offered  to 
put  me  at  his  table  and  to  find  a  berth 
for  me  before  night.  I  had  my  concertina 
in  my  trunk,  and  the  Captain  was  very 
fond  of  making  me  play  it  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  the  ladies  whom  he  invited  into  his 
private  sanctum  on  deck.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  sixteen  days  we  landed  in  Boston, 
and  as  I  was  consigned  to  the  Tremont 
House  by  a  correspondent  in  Manchester, 
they  sent  some  one  to  meet  me  and  conduct 
me  to  the  hotel.  I  was  taken  a  few  hours 
92 


Richard  Hoffman 

later  to  the  Chickering  warerooms  by  one 
of  the  clerks,  who  had  been  deputed  to  act 
as  my  guide.  There  I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  old  Jonas  Chickering,  who  met  me 
in  his  working  apron  with  his  tools  in  his 
hand.  It  was  not  long  before  they  made 
me  sit  down  at  a  grand  piano  (the  only  one 
they  had,  as  it  happened),  and  I  played 
upon  it  to  an  admiring  audience  of  visitors 
until  I  was  dragged  away  from  this  con- 
genial employment  by  the  clerk,  to  see  some 
of  the  sights  of  the  city.  It  is  just  fifty 
years  since  my  introduction  to  the  Chicker- 
ing piano,  when  dressed  in  an  Eton  jacket 
and  broad  collar  I  first  tested  its  merits. 
I  have  been  faithful  to  it  ever  since,  nor 
have  I  had  occasion  to  change  my  mind 
as  to  its  uniform  excellence.  It  was  in 
the  month  of  August,  and  that  night  I  also 
made  my  first  acquaintance  with  the  Ameri- 
can mosquito  in  the  fulness  of  his  strength. 
The  morning  found  me  spent  with  my 
struggles  to  conquer  him,  and  when  I 
93 


Richard  Hoffman 

started  for  New  York  by  the  Sound  boat 
that  evening  I  was  a  very  much  exhausted 
as  well  as  homesick  boy. 

I  recollect  that  I  left  the  boat  as  soon  as 
it  reached  the  dock  and  drove  at  once  to 
my  uncle's  house  on  Spring  Street,  where 
I  arrived  before  any  of  the  household  were 
awake.  There  I  passed  a  half-hour  or 
more  on  the  doorstep,  sitting  on  my  trunk 
and  waiting  for  the  servants  to  open  the 
house,  while  I  reflected  on  the  fallacy  of 
that  proverb  which  treats  of  the  early  bird. 

Soon  after  my  arrival  in  New  York  I 
was  fortunate  in  finding  a  friend  in  Joseph 
Burke,  the  violinist,  who  in  great  measure 
supplemented  the  wise  counsels  of  Regondi, 
and  who,  like  Regondi,  had  been  a  youth- 
ful prodigy.  He  went  on  the  stage  at  the 
age  of  eight  and  was  known  at  that  time  as 
"Master  Burke,"  but  when  he  was  old 
enough  to  choose  his  own  career  he  forsook 
the  theatre  and  adopted  music  as  his  pro- 
fession. He  studied  the  violin  in  Brussels 
94 


Joseph  Burke  as  a  Young  Man 

Known  in  boyhood  as  Master  Burke,  the  Boy  Phenomenon 


Richard  Hoffman 

under  De  Beriot,  and  on  his  return  to  the 
States  he  made  a  tour  throughout  the 
country  with  De  Meyer. 

I  made  my  first  public  appearance  in 
New  York  at  a  concert  given  by  Burke  at 
the  Tabernacle.  This  was  soon  followed 
by  one  of  my  own  given  on  Thanksgiving 
evening,  when  I  realized  the  uncertain  re- 
turns which  may  be  expected  in  concert 
enterprises.  I  should  have  been  consider- 
ably out  of  pocket  after  this  bold  venture 
had  it  not  been  for  some  kind  friends,  Mr. 
Ogden  Haggerty  and  Mr.  Arthur  T.  Jones 
among  others,  who  on  the  next  day  sent  me 
receipts  for  the  use  of  the  Tabernacle  and 
all  other  expenses  of  the  concert.  The  pub- 
lic did  not  turn  out  in  such  numbers  as  I 
had  hoped  for,  and  I  found  myself  with  an 
audience  of  three  or  four  hundred  people 
in  a  room,  the  seating  capacity  of  which 
was  over  two  thousand.  The  Tabernacle 
was  a  large  building  on  Broadway  and 
Leonard  Street,  used  on  Sundays  for  relig- 
95 


Richard  Hoffman 

ious  services  and  for  all  kinds  of  secular 
entertainments  throughout  the  week.  It 
was  the  only  large  room  available  for 
public  concerts  or  meetings  except  Castle 
Garden  (then  used  for  the  opera),  and  its 
acoustic  properties  were  very  good.  It  was, 
however,  a  dismal,  badly  lighted  place 
and  the  entrance  could  only  be  approached 
through  a  long,  narrow  alley  from  Broad- 
way. The  New  York  audiences  of  to-day 
would  revolt  against  the  inconveniences 
which  were  cheerfully  endured  by  their 
grandparents  in  1847.  I  nac^  been  wiser 
had  I  taken  the  Apollo  rooms  on  Broadway 
which  were  smaller  and  more  desirably 
located.  There  the  Philharmonic  Society 
gave  their  concerts,  and  I  should  have  fol- 
lowed their  example,  but  I  was  probably 
suffering  from  the  complaint  best  known 
as  "swelled  head,"  brought  on,  I  dare  say, 
by  overpraise  and  considerable  self-conceit. 
My  preference  therefore  leaned  toward  the 
Tabernacle,  and  there  I  learned  my  first 

96 


Richard  Hoffman 

lesson  in  humility,  which  doubtless  had  its 
good  effect  on  my  character. 

The  programme  for  this  concert,  one  of 
which  I  have  preserved  and  reproduced 
here,  will  show  what  a  rara  avis  the 
grand  piano  was  in  those  days.  The  one  I 
played  upon  was  made  especially  for  Mr. 
Jones,  a  leading  amateur  in  music,  and  he 
was  good  enough  to  lend  it  to  me  on  all 
great  occasions.  As  a  general  thing  I 
played  upon  a  "square,"  as  the  piano 
manufacturers  did  not  make  a  "grand" 
except  to  order,  and  all  foreign  pianists 
brought  their  own  instruments  with  them. 

I  print  a  criticism  of  this  concert  written 
by  Charles  A.  Dana,  then  musical  critic 
of  the  Tribune,  and  I  like  to  think  that 
throughout  his  long  career  as  a  journalist 
and  man  of  letters  I  kept  his  friendship  and 
good  opinion  of  my  musical  work. 

"The  bill  of  Richard  Hoffman's  Concert 
last  evening  was  a  very  attractive  one,  and 
we  were  surprised  to  see  a  smaller  audience 
97 


Richard  Hoffman 

than  the  utmost  limits  of  the  Tabernacle 
would  accommodate,  especially  as  it  was  a 
holiday  night,  and  Mr.  Hoffman  had  the 
good  sense  to  put  the  price  of  admission  at 
half  a  dollar.  Artists  are  too  much  in  the 
habit  of  supposing  that  it  is  impossible  to 
charge  less  than  a  dollar,  no  matter  what 
they  offer.  No  concert  ticket  ought  to  be 
a  dollar  where  there  is  not  a  full  orchestra 
and  the  best  vocal  assistance  to  be  obtained. 
"Though  Mr.  Hoffman  had  not  a  crowd, 
the  audience  was  a  good  one  and  seemed 
fully  to  appreciate  his  fine  talents  and  the 
earnestness  of  his  playing.  We  know  no 
one  who  seems  to  maintain  so  vital  a  con- 
nection with  his  instrument  as  Mr.  Hoff- 
man. For  the  time  being  it  is  his  world, 
and  the  music  he  is  playing  sole  existence. 
We  were  able  to  hear  him  last  evening  only 
in  a  Fantasie  by  Prudent;  it  was  a  per- 
formance full  of  beauty  and  of  promise, 
though  we  confess  we  could  not  but  wish 
for  the  absorbed  and  most  prepossessing 

98 


TAB  lilt]ff  A  € 

THAWCSSIYCTG 

RICHARD  HOFFMAN'S 


On  Thursday  Evening  November  25th,  XS^T, 

on  WHICH  eocMtov  Ks  WILL  as  AMWTKD  IT 

MB,  JOSEPH  BUBKE,  Vioiinwt, 
MR.  H.  C.  TIMM, 

MR.  SCHARFENBERG, 

MR.  S.  L.  LEAOH,  Voc«i*t, 

Prom  London,  hi,  *eee*d  apjMwtM* i»  Am«tc», 

HERR  SARONI,  AHD 

MRS.  EASTCOTT,  Vocal*- 
m  ti.  C.  TTMM  Win  PRCTPE^AT  THE  'F1  ANOfOTTE.: 

s^asc&iB^safifi  a* 

PART  ff. 

I    SONO-"  Wonin't  Lote,"  MR.  LEACH ,. JUm  | 

9.  GRAND  VANTASIE-'Us  Bugoenots,"  arcntad  by  RICHAUD  HOFFMAN, 
on  one  of CbicJcering'i  Sbptrb  Gr»nd  Pianofortes,  maBuractored  /or  aCatlMDU 
in  thiiCH; 

3.  "  VAKEX  CAKPO,-  from  (he  Open  of  II  Cdontllo.  MR5.  EASTCOTT -,. 

4.  FANT ASIE-"L»Mel«Dcho>ie"CTeaiUd  by  Mr.  JOSEPH  BURKE „. 

8.    RECITATIVE  AND  A1R-"  R*g»  thoa  tngry  Sl«rm,"  MB.  LEACH , 

«.    INTRODUCTION  AND  VARIATIONS—"  Saainmis,"  (b;  desire)  oMeatod  by 

RICHARD  HOFFMAN; L»»ou> D*  Mzrn  \ 

7.    OVERTURE  TO  "  GUlLLAUME  TELL" 

Arnngad  for  three  Pijuto*,  Sr  RICHAKD  HorrMxn,  and  executed  by  Messrs. 
SCHARFENBERG,  H.  C,  TIMM,  and  RICHARD  HOFFMAN,  on  three 
Superb  Grind  Piuoforto.  manufactured.^  Mejtra.  Noou  &  Clark.  Stodart. 

and  Chickerbg.     ' 


It. 
1.    FANTASIF.  on  Tlieaei  from  '•  Limb  de  ChaD.ounix."  (oy  J«ir.)  executed  Of 

9.    SONS—"  On  th.  Banks  of  Goadilqoiver,"  by  MRS.  EASTCOTT: I/in 

8.  GRAND  FANTA3IE-nrr«taCracoTienn«.-  executed  by  RICUABD  HOFF- 

MAN , H.V.W 

4.     SOJfO —  W «rprot  for  sorrow,"  LKACH—ViolocMlla OL-i'^aJaJiy  KEEK SARONf.. 

9.  KTCKABD  HOFFMAN  wilt  bare  the  honor  of  Introducing  to  the  American  Public 

Hew  Musical  Instrument,  called  Whoatstono'»  Patent 

Concertina,  and  perform  on  it  a  FANTASIA  on  Tbenrai  from   the  Opera 
«'-Jferm»." 
6.     CTXNl>  DUO  CONCERTANTE-from  the  Opera  of  -  Fr*  Diarolo."  aecoted 

bj  RICHARD  HOFFMAN  and  JOSEPH  Bl/RKE H»<  AWT 


Richard  Hoffman 

young  artist  a  school  more  adequate  to  his 
talents  than  he  is  likely  to  find  in  this 
country.  America  is  good  for  the  accom- 
plished master,  who  seeks  a  substantial 
harvest  for  the  early  years  of  labor  and 
preparation;  but  it  is  not  so  good  for  the 
forming  student  who  needs  the  severe  in- 
fluence of  great  models,  and  a  truly  culti- 
vated public." — Tribune,  Nov.  26,  1847. 

Soon  after  this  rather  disastrous  enter- 
prise I  was  invited  by  the  Philharmonic 
Society  to  play  at  one  of  their  concerts.  I 
chose  the  Mendelssohn  G  Minor  Concerto 
in  which  to  make  my  first  appearance  as  a 
classical  pianist,  and  I  seem  to  have  acquit- 
ted myself  with  some  credit  on  the  occasion. 
I  find  the  following  notice  of  this  concert 
from  the  New  York  Express  of  that  date, 
which  I  remember  gave  me  great  encour- 
agement at  a  time  when  I  stood  in  need 
of  it. 

"Mr.  Richard  Hoffman  deserved  richly 
the  compliment  paid  him  by  the  manage- 
99 


Richard  Hoffman 

ment  in  inviting  him  to  take  part  in  the  first 
concert  of  the  Philharmonic  for  the  season, 
and  in  his  admirable  performance  of  Men- 
delssohn's G  Minor  Concerto  (with  full  or- 
chestra). .  .  .  He  was  warmly  applauded 
and  received  more  than  one  floral  token  of 
approbation  at  the  hands  of  the  fair  portion 
of  the  audience.  We  were  glad  to  see  him 
there  on  this  occasion,  as  it  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  stamping  on  the  minds  of 
some  of  our  most  discriminating  judges  an 
idea  of  his  genius  and  talent." 

At  the  time  of  my  arrival  in  New  York 
there  were  many  excellent  pianists  settled 
here — Timm,  William  Scharfenberg,  Dres- 
el,  Fontana  (a  pupil  of  Chopin),  the  two 
Rackemanns,  Louis  and  Frederic,  and  a 
little  later  William  Vincent  Wallace  took 
up  his  residence  in  this  city.  The  musical 
critics  were  also  of  the  best;  among  others, 
Henry  C.  Watson  Otis  of  the  Express,  and 
Richard  Grant  White  of  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer.  An  occasional  " bravo"  from 

ICO 


Richard  Hoffman 

such  men  as  these  did  much  toward  stimu- 
lating me  in  my  public  performances,  and 
in  furnishing  me  with  an  incentive  to  study 
and  cultivate  a  higher  grade  of  music  than 
the  general  public  demanded.  My  bravura 
playing  always  called  forth  abundant  ap- 
plause from  my  audiences,  and  it  was  a 
temptation  to  neglect  the  more  serious 
music  which  alone  can  develop  the  true 
musician,  but  which  at  that  time  the  musi- 
cal patrons  of  New  York  were  only  willing 
to  receive  in  small  doses. 

In  December  of  the  same  year  I  started, 
on  a  concert  tour  with  Joseph  Burke,  which 
lasted  until  the  spring.  As  I  look  back 
upon  that  winter  of  '49  I  often  wonder  how 
we  held  out  as  long  as  we  did,  through  all 
the  trials  and  discomforts  attendant  upon 
such  an  enterprise.  Travelling  was  primi- 
tive and  slow;  we  went  by  boat  whenever 
we  could,  as  time  was  not  of  the  same  im- 
portance then  as  in  these  days  of  rapid 
transit.  Concerts  were  postponed  to  suit 


101 


Richard  Hoffman 

the  weather,  and  as  tickets  were  rarely  se- 
cured in  advance,  we  suffered  the  excite- 
ment of  perpetual  uncertainty  as  to  the 
possible  receipts  from  our  entertainments. 
We  began  our  experiences  in  Albany, 
where  Burke  had  many  friends,  and  we 
gave  two  concerts  in  Boston.  We  also  vis- 
ited Worcester  and  Springfield,  and  went 
as  far  east  as  Portland.  As  we  attended 
to  our  own  advertising,  it  entailed  the  ne- 
cessity of  staying  a  day  or  two  in  each  town 
before  giving  the  concert,  unless  we  could 
write  in  advance  to  a  friend  to  herald  our 
approach  through  the  local  papers.  I  rec- 
ollect they  told  us  at  Newburyport  that  it 
would  be  useless  to  ask  over  twelve  and  a 
half  cents  for  tickets,  and  I  think  we  re- 
duced them  to  twenty-five  cents  for  that 
occasion.  When  our  expenses  were  paid, 
my  share  of  the  profits  in  this  town  was 
under  one  dollar.  Things  were  not  quite  so 
bad  as  this  everywhere,  however,  as  we 
managed  to  make  our  living  out  of  it;  but 
102 


Richard  Hoffman 

the  Eastern  States  proved  a  barren  field  for 
our  efforts,  and  we  turned  our  steps  south- 
ward, going  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
Washington.  We  returned  to  New  York 
in  the  spring,  and  afterward  made  a 
summer  tour  in  the  West,  taking  in  Buffalo, 
Rochester,  Detroit,  Milwaukee,  and  even 
Chicago.  Some  figures  of  our  receipts  may 
illustrate  the  scale  upon  which  these  con- 
certs were  conducted. 

HECEIPTS        EXPENSES 

First  conceit  in  Milwaukee  .  $89.50  $16.95 

First  concert  in  Buffalo      .  .  40.00  24.75 

First  concert  in  Rochester  .  .  57.00  23.00 

Three  concerts  in  Montreal  .  215.00  100.00 

As  tickets  were  always  fifty  cents,  this  rep- 
resented fair  audiences. 

We  often  had  difficulties  in  the  smaller 
towns  in  procuring  a  piano,  and  I  remem- 
ber that  in  the  town  of  Hamilton,  Canada, 
we  were  in  despair  of  finding  one,  when 
some  public-spirited  citizen  offered  to  lend 
his  square  for  the  occasion,  but  with  special 
103 


Richard  Hoffman 

injunctions  to  return  it  the  same  night. 
The  concert  was  given  in  the  dining-room 
of  the  hotel  and,  when  it  was  over,  it  de- 
volved upon  Burke  and  myself  to  see  that 
the  piano  got  safely  back  to  its  owner.  The 
absence  of  any  "help"  at  that  hour  made 
it  necessary  for  us  to  do  the  moving  our- 
selves, and  as  the  dining-room  was  fortu- 
ately  on  the  ground  floor,  we  proceeded  to 
wheel  it  out  on  its  casters  into  the  street  and 
to  push  it  in  front  of  us  to  its  owner's  house, 
a  distance  of  two  or  three  blocks  from  the 
hotel,  where  we  finally  left  it  in  safety. 
This  illustrates  the  simplicity  of  our 
methods,  and  savors  of  the  backwoods  and 
early  settlers.  We  were  literally  among 
the  pioneers  of  art  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  when  I  contrast  our  journey  of 
1849  with  °ne  I  made  last  year  [1895]  over 
the  same  ground  to  Chicago,  where  I 
played  for  the  first  time  since  this  early 
experience,  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  such 
changes  as  I  found  were  possible  to  have 
104 


Richard  Hoffman 

occurred  in  a  space  of  time  covering  less 
than  fifty  years. 

On  our  return  to  New  York  we  found 
every  one  in  a  state  of  excited  expectancy 
over  the  approaching  arrival  of  Jenny  Lind. 
Mile.  Lind  had  been  unwilling  for  some 
time  to  listen  to  any  overtures  from  Bar- 
num  or  to  sign  an  agreement  for  an  Ameri- 
can tour.  She  even  refused  to  see  Mr.  Wil- 
ton, his  agent,  in  England.  Mr.  Wilton 
knew  my  father,  however,  and  begged  him 
to  suggest  some  way  by  which  he  might 
secure  an  audience  with  the  diva.  My  fa- 
ther introduced  him  to  Sir  George  Smart, 
who  had  taught  my  sister,  and  also  had 
given  some  lessons  to  Jenny  Lind.  He  con- 
sented to  give  the  agent  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion, begging  her  at  least  to  see  Mr.  Wilton. 
This  plan  seems  to  have  succeeded,  for 
after  this  meeting  she  signed  for  the  Ameri- 
can engagement. 

Never  had  singer  or  musician  such  a 
" reclame"  as  she.  Crowds  were  on  the 
105 


Richard  Hoffman 

docks  to  witness  the  landing  of  the  great 
songstress,  crowds  followed  her  to  her  hotel, 
and  greater  crowds  were  striving  to  obtain 
tickets  to  hear  her  sing. 

Mr.  E.  C.  Benedict,  better  known  as 
The  Commodore,  tells  the  following  an- 
ecdote of  how  as  a  boy  he  gained  a  free 
entrance  to  the  first  concert:  "The  price 
of  tickets  for  Jenny  Lind's  first  concert  in 
America,  in  1851,  ranged  from  $10  to  $100, 
at  auction,  for  choice  of  seats,  and  $5  for 
promenaders.  The  top  price  [$300]  was 
paid  by  John  N.  Genin,  a  prominent  hatter 
of  that  period.  I  was  passionately  fond  of 
music,  but  had  not  the  means  to  buy  a 
ticket.  However,  my  curiosity  to  see  the 
Swedish  Nightingale  (as  she  was  called), 
and  the  conductor,  Sir  Julius  Benedict,  led 
me  to  place  myself  at  the  entrance  to  the 
bridge  which  then  extended  over  water 
from  the  Battery  to  Castle  Garden,  where 
I  felt  sure  I  would  catch  a  glimpse  of  those 
distinguished  people  as  they  passed  in. 
106 


Richard  Hoffman 

"An  immense  throng  had  passed  without 
my  having  seen  them,  and  just  as  I  was 
about  to  depart  a  lad  appeared,  who  had 
recently  been  a  schoolmate,  selling  the  '  Life 
and  Songs  of  Jenny  Lind/  Expressing  to 
him  my  unbounded  desire  to  hear  her  sing, 
he  handed  me  a  bunch  of  the  books  and 
appointed  me  as  salesman.  I  accepted  the 
position  at  once  and  made  many  sales. 
When  the  concert  began  I  squared  accounts 
with  him  and  took  my  place  among  the 
standees.  The  programme  stated  that  at 
the  close  of  Part  I  any  vacant  seat  could  be 
occupied  by  a  promenader.  I  discovered 
one  in  the  very  front  row,  and  with  the 
last  expiring  note  of  Part  I,  I  dropped 
into  it. 

"  This  explains  how  I  got  some  of  Jenny 
Lind's  notes  without  giving  her  any  of 


mine." 


It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  after 
her  first  concert  Jenny  Lind  broke  her  con- 
tract with  Barnum,  refusing  to  sing  again 

107 


Richard  Hoffman 

unless  he  changed  the  original  terms,  which 
were  one  thousand  dollars  a  night  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  concerts  and  all  expenses. 
When  she  found  that  the  receipts  for  the 
first  night  were  twenty-eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, she  demanded  one  thousand  dollars 
per  night,  and  half  the  receipts  after  three 
thousand  dollars,  with  all  expenses  paid. 
Barnum  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  he 
had  discovered  a  gold  mine,  and  fell  in  with 
the  singer's  demands.  On  the  voyage  over 
Jenny  Lind  had  met  two  young  men,  civil 
engineers,  who  had  come  to  seek  their  fort- 
unes in  America.  One  was  Charles  Sey- 
ton,  a  Scotchman,  and  the  other  was  Max 
Hjotzberg,  a  Swede.  Young  Max  had 
fallen  a  victim  to  her  attractions,  and  when 
she  offered  him  a  position  as  secretary 
for  the  American  tour,  he  eagerly  accepted, 
and  remained  with  her  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  her  engagement.  Seyton 
also  was  taken  into  her  service,  and  his 
business  was  to  watch  the  box-office,  and 
108 


Richard  Hoffman 

see  to  it  that  Jenny  received  her  full  share 
of  the  receipts  according  to  the  new  con- 
tract. He  was  a  good  friend  of  mine,  and 
lived  with  Burke  and  myself  for  some  time, 
until  he  married.  He  became  a  successful 
business  man  and  broker,  of  the  firm  of 
Seyton  &  Wainwright,  the  latter  a  son  of 
the  Bishop  of  New  York. 

It  seemed  a  wonderful  stroke  of  good 
fortune  for  me  to  receive  at  this  time  the 
following  letter  from  P.  T.  Barnum,  re- 
questing me  to  join  the  company  of  artists 
who  were  to  assist  Mile.  Lind,  and  to  ap- 
pear at  the  first  concert  on  September  n, 
at  Castle  Garden : 

"  BRIDGEPORT,  Aug.  14*  A,  1850. 
"RICHARD  HOFFMAN,  ESQ., 

"Dear  Sir:  By  advice  of  Mr.  Julius  Bene- 
dict, I  write  to  inform  you  that  I  will  engage 
you  to  play  for  Jenny  Lind's  Concerts,  etc., 
on  the  terms  named  by  you  and  will  sign  an 
agreement  to  that  effect  on  my  arrival  in  New 
York  about  25th  inst. 

109 


Richard  Hoffman 

"I   expect  that  Miss   Andrews    (who   I   un- 
derstand is  your  sister)  will  accompany  Jenny 
Lind.     I  expect  the  1st  Concert  will  be  given 
about  the  middle  of  Sept. 
"Truly  yours, 

"P.  T.  BARNUM." 

Mr.  Burke  was  also  engaged  as  violinist 
and  leader,  or  concert-meister,  of  the  or- 
chestra, and  played  at  all  the  concerts  given 
by  Jenny  Lind  in  this  country.  In  places 
where  no  orchestra  could  be  obtained, 
Burke  and  I  generally  began  the  concert 
with  a  duet,  then  each  a  solo,  before  the 
prima  donna  appeared.  It  is  true  that  no 
other  performance  than  the  singing  of  Mile. 
Lind  counted  for  anything,  and  that  the 
duet  which  I  played  at  the  first  concert  with 
Benedict  (afterward  Sir  Julius),  as  the  pro- 
gramme will  show,  was  hardly  listened  to, 
so  eager  was  the  audience  to  compare  notes 
and  exchange  its  impressions  of  the  wonder- 
ful singer.  Nevertheless,  it  certainly  gave 
me  a  start  in  my  career,  which  many  years 
no 


Richard  Hoffman 

of  ordinary   concert-playing   could    never 
have  done. 

CASTLE  GARDEN 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND 

ON 

WEDNESDAY  EVENING,   IITH  SEPTEMBER,   1850 
PROGRAMME 

PART  I 

Overture  (Oberon) Weber 

Aria,  "Sorgete"  (Maometto  Secondo) .     .  Rossini 

SIGNOR  BELLETTI 

Scena  and  Cavatina,  "Casta  Diva"  (Norma) 

Bellini 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND 

Duet  on  two  Piano  Fortes  (Themes  from  Norma) 

Thalberg 

MESSIEURS   BENEDICT  AND  HOFFMAN 

Duetto  "Per  piacer  alia  Signora,"  (II  Turco  in 
Italia) Rossini 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND  AND  SIGNOR  BELLETTI 
PART  H 

Overture  (The  Crusaders) Benedict 

Trio  for  the  Voice  and  two  Flutes,  composed  ex- 
pressly for  Mademoiselle  Jenny  Lind  (Camp  of 
Silesia) Meyerbeer 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND 
FLUTES,  MESSRS.   KYLE  AND  SIEDE 
III 


Richard  Hoffman 

Cavatina,  "Largo  al  Factotum"  (II  Barbiere) 

Rossini 

SIGNOR   BELLETTI 

"The  Herdsman's  Song,"  more  generally  known 
as  " The  Echo  Song" 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND 

"The  Welcome  to  America,"  written  expressly  for 
this  occasion  by  Bayard  Taylor,  Esq.     Benedict 

MADEMOISELLE  JENNY  LIND 

Conductor M.  Benedict 

The  Orchestra  will  consist  of  Sixty  Performers, 
including  the  first  instrumental  talent  in  the  coun- 
try. 

Price  of  tickets  Three  Dollars.  Choice  of 
places  will  be  sold  by  Auction  at  Castle  Garden. 

Doors  open  at  six  o'clock.  Concert  to  com- 
mence at  eight  o'clock. 

No  checks  will  be  issued. 

Mdlle.  Jenny  Lind's  Second  Grand  Concert 
will  be  given  at  Castle  Garden  on  Friday  evening, 
i3th  instant. 

Chickering's  Grand  Pianos  will  be  used  at  the 
first  Concert. 

The  pleasure  I  obtained  from  hearing 
this  wonderful  artist  so  frequently  was  in 
itself  an  education  not  to  be  overestimated. 
As  I  remember  her  voice,  it  was  not  so  bril- 
liant as  it  was  deliciously  rounded,  and  of 
112 


Richard  Hoffman 

an  exquisite  musical  timbre.  It  possessed 
great  volume,  and  what  seemed  an  inex- 
haustible reserve  force.  She  had  a  most 
attractive  personality,  and  nothing  could 
have  been  more  naive  and  charming  than 
her  manner  on  the  stage.  She  would  trip  on 
and  off,  as  if  in  an  ecstasy  of  delight  at  the 
opportunity  of  singing,  bowing  and  smiling 
to  her  audience,  and  giving  every  one  pres- 
ent a  flattering  sense  of  contributing  in  a 
measure  toward  the  success  of  the  evening. 
She  had  three  or  four  songs  which  showed 
the  wonderful  compass  and  power  of  her 
voice,  and  one  or  more  of  these  was  called 
for  at  every  concert.  A  Swedish  Echo  Song 
in  which  she  would  echo  her  own  voice  by  a 
sort  of  ventriloquism  that  was  quite  mar- 
vellous, and  another  in  which  she  made  a 
remarkable  diminuendo,  reaching  a  pianis- 
simo as  faint  as  a  sigh,  but  with  a  carrying 
power  that  made  it  distinctly  audible  at  the 
most  extreme  limits  of  Castle  Garden  or 
Tripler  Hall,  where  the  later  concerts  were 


Richard  Hoffman 

given.  This  was  a  fine  building  situated  in 
Broadway  and  Bond  Street,  and  just  fin- 
ished in  time  for  the  second  series  of  con- 
certs. The  hall  had  fine  acoustic  advan- 
tages, and  it  was  a  great  loss  to  the  city 
when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years 
later.  The  Winter  Garden  was  afterward 
built  on  the  same  site. 

One  of  the  most  haunting  things  to  me 
was  her  singing  of  Taubert's  bird  song — "  I 
know  not  why  I  am  singing."  Her  shake 
was  the  finest  I  ever  heard,  so  close  and 
even  as  to  be  altogether  perfect.  Her  voice, 
which  she  said  herself  was  naturally  stiff 
and  stubborn,  she  had  educated  and  prac- 
tised into  such  a  degree  of  perfection  that 
her  roulades  and  cadenzas  were  unparal- 
leled in  their  execution.  In  her  sacred 
songs  she  rose  to  the  sublime,  and  on  one 
occasion  as  she  finished  singing  the  aria  "  I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  I  recollect 
that  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  seated  in  the 
centre  of  the  balcony,  rose  from  his  seat  and 
114 


Jenny  Lind 


Richard  Hoffman 

made  her  a  profound  bow.  Her  rapt  ex- 
pression of  face  and  never-ending  volume  of 
voice  made  her  appear  like  some  inspired 
seraph  delivering  a  divine  message. 

She  was  indebted  to  Sir  George  Smart, 
with  whom  she  had  studied  in  England,  for 
all  the  traditional  renderings  of  oratorio 
parts,  he  being  at  that  time  the  greatest  liv- 
ing authority  in  this  school  of  music,  but 
her  vocal  training  was  done  under  Manuel 
Garcia  in  Paris. 

In  a  short  work  recently  published  in 
London,  entitled  "Jenny  Lind,  Her  Vocal 
Art  and  Cadenze,"  written  by  U.  S.  Rock- 
stro  and  edited  by  Otto  Goldschmidt,  an 
account  is  given  of  her  studies  with  Garcia 
and  the  methods  by  which  she  attained  to 
some  of  her  most  wonderful  achievements. 
She  had  completed  her  twenty-first  year 
before  she  had  an  opportunity  of  studying 
under  his  guidance,  but  she  remained  with 
him  over  a  year  and  left  him,  the  most 
remarkable  virtuosa  of  her  time,  or  perhaps 
"5 


Richard  Hoffman 

of  all  time.  The  work  tells  us  that  "pre- 
vious to  this  her  voice  had  been  seriously 
impaired  by  the  pernicious  methods  and 
fatiguing  concert  tours  to  which  it  had  been 
subjected  in  Sweden,"  and  adds  that  "the 
great  secret  of  her  perfect  mastery  over  all 
technical  difficulties  lay  in  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  Signor  Garcia  was  so 
very  particular  about  the  breathing  .  .  . 
she  learned  to  fill  her  lungs  with  such  dex- 
terity that  except  with  her  consent  it  was 
impossible  to  detect  either  the  moment  at 
which  the  breath  was  renewed  or  the  method 
by  which  the  action  was  accomplished." 

Belletti,  one  of  the  assisting  artists  of  the 
troupe,  was  a  very  beautiful  singer  with  a 
pure,  vibrant  Italian  voice,  but  with  a  most 
amusing  pronunciation  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. His  singing  of  "Why  do  ze  naz- 
zions  so  fooriosely  raage  zu  geder?"  could 
not  be  heard  without  an  audible  smile  from 
the  audience. 

The  other  members  of  the  company  were 
116 


Richard  Hoffman 

Salvi  and  Badiali,  and  later  Otto  Gold- 
schmidt  as  pianist.  There  was  always  a 
good  orchestra  of  about  sixty  or  seventy, 
and  it  was  at  one  of  these  concerts  that 
Mendelssohn's  "Italian  Symphony"  was 
given  for  the  first  time  in  this  country. 
When  Otto  Goldschmidt  joined  the  com- 
pany it  became  evident  from  Jenny  Lind's 
devotion  to  him  that  he  was  destined  to 
become  her  husband.  Sometimes  the  audi- 
ences broke  out  in  a  tumult  of  impatience 
during  his  performance  of  Thalberg's  long 
fantasias,  and  Mile.  Lind — who  always  ap- 
peared in  the  wings  while  he  was  playing 
— took  this  means  of  silencing  their  mur- 
murs of  dissatisfaction.  Her  own  rapt  at- 
tention to  the  piano  numbers  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  audience  to  assert  itself, 
and  her  presence  on  the  stage  compensated 
in  a  measure  for  this  delay  before  her  next 
appearance. 

While  we  were  in  Boston  it  was  arranged 
to  give  the  last  two  concerts  at  the  enor- 
117 


Richard  Hoffman 

mous  hall  over  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Sta- 
tion. Barnum,  by  some  miscalculation  of 
the  floor  space,  had  sold  many  hundred 
more  tickets  than  the  place  would  hold,  and 
the  result  was  one  of  the  most  enraged 
crowds  I  ever  beheld.  I  arrived  rather  late 
at  the  hall,  and  not  being  able  to  find  any 
rear  door  to  the  stage,  I  had  to  explain  my 
situation  to  the  police  at  the  entrance,  and 
by  their  aid  managed  to  get  inside  the 
doors.  The  aisles  were  so  blocked  with 
people  that  it  was  simply  impossible  to 
make  any  progress,  and  it  was  finally  sug- 
gested by  some  enterprising  man  that  I 
should  be  lifted  up  and  passed  over  the 
heads  of  the  people  until  I  reached  the 
stage.  It  was  not  unlike  being  tossed  in  a 
blanket,  but  I  was  a  youth  of  slim  pro- 
portions and  finally  reached  the  footlights 
rather  more  dead  than  alive,  and  very  much 
disordered  in  my  general  appearance.  I 
was  put  together,  however,  and  took  my 
place  on  the  programme  without  causing 
118 


Richard  Hoffman 

any  delay.  I  think  this  was  the  only  time 
when  a  concert  was  given  in  a  railway  sta- 
tion; a  place  more  obviously  unsuited  to  a 
musical  occasion  could  hardly  have  been 
devised,  and  we  were  all  indignant  at  the 
management  for  transferring  us  thither 
from  Tremont  Temple,  where  the  previous 
concerts  had  been  given. 

Jenny  Lind  made  many  warm  friends  in 
this  country,  and  it  was  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Samuel  Ward,  of  Boston,  that  her  marriage 
with  Otto  Goldschmidt  was  solemnized 
by  Doctor  (afterward  Bishop)  Wainwright. 
She  always  retained  a  sincere  regard  for 
the  American  character  and  some  extracts 
from  one  of  her  letters  will  show  how  truly 
she  appreciated  all  that  was  best  in  our 
people,  although  she  was  in  no  wise  blind 
to  their  undeveloped  artistic  tastes  nor  the 
unusual  methods  of  her  impresario.  It  is 
addressed  to  Joseph  Burke,  with  whom  she 
kept  up  a  desultory  correspondence  for 
many  years,  and  whom  she  was  ever  ready 
119 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  welcome  to  her  home  near  London  when 
chance  led  him  to  visit  the  Old  World. 

"DRESDEN,  17  Feby,  1853. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  It  was  with  a  very  great 
pleasure  that  I  received  and  read  your  kind, 
friendly  letter  of  the  1st  of  January,  and  many 
thoughts  wandered  through  my  head  when  I  re- 
flected upon  the  many  changes  that  have  taken 
place  since  our  first  New  Year's  Eve  together  in 
Charleston!  It  is  a  beautiful  thing  in  life  to  find 
Persons  we  can  esteem  and  feel  friendship  for, 
and  you  are  certainly  one  of  those  who  have 
many  times  cheered  me  and  made  me  to  believe 
in  solid  friendship,  and  I  for  my  part  shall  always 
feel  interested  in  your  welfare  and  happiness. 

"  I  often  think  of  America,  it  is  the  new  world 
that  is  true;  there  is  active  life  and  room  to  take 
breath,  while  Europe  is  old,  quite  a  Grandmother 
to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Here  are  thousands  of 
beautiful  things  certainly,  and  life  in  Europe  is 
rich  and  full  of  Art  and  Poetry,  but  except  Eng- 
land there  is  here  everywhere  great  infidelity, 
great  want  of  moral  activity.  People  here  mostly 
misunderstand  life's  claim,  object,  and  end — 
and  this  makes  me  to  feel  a  stranger.  Surrounded 
120 


Richard  Hoffman 

though  I  am  by  Kind  People  I  feel  already  as 
if  I  was  to  spend  my  whole  life  in  Germany,  my 
soul  and  my  faculties  would  remain  undeveloped 
for  want  of  such  examples  as  I  have  seen  in  Eng- 
land and  in  America,  and  yet  how  many  good 
qualities  do  the  Germans  possess,  but — the 
Pride  makes  them  blind — and  Pride  is  our  great- 
est and  most  dangerous  joe. 

"We  are  thank  God  very  well,  but  I  have 
nevertheless  been  obliged  to  make  up  my  mind 
not  to  sing  at  all  (I  mean  in  public)  this  winter 
for  indeed  my  head  and  my  nerves  wanted  rest  if 
I  am  to  regain  my  former  Powers  once  more. 
America,  the  anxiety  I  experienced  there  every 
time  I  sang  to  a  '  Barnumish '  House  (you  will  un- 
derstand all  I  mean  with  that  only  word)  has  put 
me  down  very  considerably  and  my  whole  iron 
constitution  was  necessary  to  resist  as  well  as  I 
did.  The  tranquility  I  enjoy  now  does  me  much 
good  I  feel,  and  my  voice  is  in  perfect  order,  so 
that  it  is  a  great  sacrifice  for  me  not  to  sing. 

"That  you  did  not  go  to  California  was  in 
my  opinion  very  wise,  you  would  have  regretted 
your  voyage  I  fear.  And  Miss  Barnum  married! 
She  is  a  good-hearted  Person,  may  she  have 
found  the  man  that  can  make  her  happy! 
121 


Richard  Hoffman 

"I  wished  that  you  had  some  nice  raison- 
able  Pupils  that  could  cheer  you  up  in  your 
fatiguant  lessons  as  a  Music  Teacher,  but  I 
know  well  from  experience  how  seldom  one  finds 
a  little  more  than  commonplace  mediocrity  in 
the  musical  geniuses  of  the  Family  celebrities! 
I  remember  your  playing  like  that  great  Pianist 
with  the  chromatic  passage  with  the  right  hand, 
how  we  used  to  laugh  then.  Poor  my  Max,* — I 
knew  he  would  have  dark  days  before  him,  but  it 
will  come  right  again  I  hope,  as  he  has  the  gift 
of  throwing  off  many  trials  with  a  real  patte  de 
chat.  He  is  to  a  very  high  degree  violent  in  his 
temper,  and  only  hard  circumstances  will  put 
him  down.  Our  education  in  London  is  so 
foolish,  that  instead  of  smoothing  down  our  by 
nature  volcanic,  they  do  all  they  can  to  tune  us 
up  still  higher,  and  this  is  a  great  misfortune. 

"Mr.  Goldschmidt  begs  me  to  send  you  his 
best  compliments,  he  continues  to  make  justice 
to  my  opinion  of  a  true,  uninterested  friend  of 
mine,  he  is  very  kind  and  faithful  to  me,  bears 
with  great  patience  and  mildness  my  many  in- 
firmities, and  my  impulsive  nature  gets  smoothed 
by  his  equal  and  dignified  temper.  God  bless 

*  Mile  Lind's  secretary,  Max  Hjotzberg. 
122 


Richard  Hoffman 

and  lead  him  on  in  the  right  way,  as  I  have  every 
reason  to  love  and  respect  him. 

"Miss  Ahmanssen  is  always  the  same  self- 
sacrificing  friend  to  both  of  us  with  her  whole 
heart  and  true  affection,  she  has  been  the  greatest 
use  to  me  through  her  experience  in  everything 

and  my  little begins  to  walk  better  with 

every  day.  John  has  been  with  us  again  all  since 
the  month  of  June  but  now  we  send  him  away 

again — Little was  left  in  England  she  was 

so  ill. 

"Our  journey  through  Switzerland  was  very 
delightful.  That  is  nature!  how  beautiful  those 
snowy  mountains  with  their  everlasting  Winter. 
I  was  delighted  to  look  up  to  those  summits 
into  which  no  human  Pride  ever  will  climb  but 
in  his  thoughts!  And  the  German  must  feel  sul- 
len, angry,  not  to  be  able  to  tell  what  century 
that  buildt  them. 

"I  expect  that  you  like  Alboni's  singing  (al- 
though she  is  rather  fat  as  a  person!)  'tis  true  from 
years  ago  at  least,  she  sang  beautifully  with  feel- 
ing, taste  and  understanding,  pity  that  she  has 
spoiled  (broken)  her  voice  by  making  it  a  high 
Soprano,  she  is  by  nature  intended  a  Contralto. 
And  now — God  bless  you  and  protect  you,  my 
123 


Richard  Hoffman 

dear  J: — may  you  remain  in  good  health  and 
Spirit  'till  we  meet  again!  Give  my  best  com- 
pliments and  kindest  regards  to  your  family. 
Mr.  G : — also  begs  to  be  most  kindly  remembered 
to  you  all,  and  I  remain  now  and  always  your  old 
(new)  acquaintance  and  friend l 


"JENNY  GOLDSCHMIDT, 

"born  LIND." 

Another  letter  from  Sir  Julius  Benedict 
seems  to  show  that  he,  too,  had  formed 
some  pleasant  friendships  on  our  shores 
and  carried  back  with  him  agreeable  mem- 
ories of  his  visit  to  our  country. 

"2  MANCHESTER  SQUARE,  LONDON, 

"3 1st  March,  1856. 

"DEAR  BURKE:    I  have  been  so  much  occu- 
pied of  late  that  I  could  not  immediately  answer 
your  kind  letter  of  last  month,  but  I  can  assure 
1  Cadenza  from  the  famous  "Echo  Song." 
124 


Richard  Hoffman 

you  I  am  quite  happy  to  think  that  you  have  not 
forgotten  your  old  friend.  I  delivered  your  note 
to  Madame  Goldschmidt  who  as  well  as  her  hus- 
band and  my  Godchild  are  in  excellent  health 
and  spirits.  Their  success  is  even  greater  than  in 
1847  and  1848.  The  receipts  of  the  concerts  can 
only  be  compared  with  the  best  in  the  United 
States,  and  instead  of  flagging  the  excitement  is 
on  the  increase.  They  have  now  left  for  a  tour 
in  the  provinces  of  7  to  8  weeks,  with  Ernst  and 
Piatti,  but  this  being  the  busiest  time  for  me  I 
could  not  accompany  them;  I  expect  them,  how- 
ever, back  about  the  loth  of  May,  and  they  then 
will  perform  again  for  the  first  time  at  my  concert 
on  Wednesday,  May  aist.  You  have  heard  no 
doubt  of  the  burning  of  Covent  Garden  Theatre. 
Lumley  is  to  open  early  in  May  with  Bottesini 
as  Musical  Director,  Albertina,  Piccolomini, 
Viardot  as  Prima  Donnas.  Beaucarde,  Salvi- 
ani  (whom  you  have  heard  at  New  York)  Tenors, 
Everardi,  Angelini  as  Bassos.  Gye  has  the  old 
favorites  with  Costa  and  will  open  about  the  2ist 
April  at  the  Lyceum.  The  English  Opera  at 
Drury  Lane  with  Lucy  Escott — and  Drayton 
does  a  tolerable  business.  I  have  accepted  the 
Conductorship  of  the  new  Philharmonic  con* 
125 


Richard  Hoffman 

jointly  with  Dr.  Wylde.  What  you  told  me  of 
P.  T.  Barnum  has  quite  taken  me  by  surprise. 
Why  could  not  he  let  well  enough  alone  with  the 
enormous  wealth  he  has  collected  ?  I  saw  poor 
Le  Grand  Smith  at  one  of  Mde.  Goldschmidt's 
concerts  just  two  days  before  he  sailed  in  the  ill- 
fated  Pacific.  What  a  horrible  story  if  she  should 
be  lost!  Mr.  Wilton  has  just  turned  up  again 
from  Australia  where  he  accompanied  G.  W. 
Brooke  the  Actor.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you  keep 
up  your  violin  playing  and  that  you  performed 
my  favorite  Concerto  at  one  of  the  Philharmonic 
meetings,  which  I  have  already  heard  was  quite 
successful.  Belletti  is  still  at  Genoa,  where  he 
has  been  singing,  but  where  his  career  was 
stopped  for  a  considerable  time  by  illness.  I  shall 
give  him  your  friendly  greetings.  Pray  remem- 
ber me  to  Hoffman,  Timm,  Scharfenberg,  Racke- 
mann  and  all  those  who  yet  remember  me.  I 
very  often  think  of  the  happy  days  we  passed  to- 
gether, our  Chess  Battles,  and  your  beautiful 
Country  where  I  received  so  much  kindness  on 
all  sides  and  which  I  fear  I  shall  never  see  again, 
"Believe  me,  my  dear  Burke, 
"Ever  yours  most  sincerely, 

"JULES  BENEDICT." 
126 


Richard  Hoffman 

So  much  has  been  written  of  the  wonder- 
ful tour  of  Jenny  Lind  through  the  United 
States  that  it  would  seem  as  if  nothing 
more  was  left  to  be  said.  Her  triumphs 
and  her  charities  went  hand  and  hand, 
and  a  quotation  from  Rosenberg's  book, 
now  out  of  print,  describing  her  first  year  in 
this  country  will  show  in  what  high  esteem 
she  was  held  by  every  one :  "  She  must  not 
be  estimated  alone  as  the  greatest  vocalist 
who  has  ever  appeared  before  the  lovers  of 
melody  on  these  shores,  or  on  those  of  Eu- 
rope. She  is  essentially  one  of  the  noblest, 
most  self-denying  and  most  charitable  of 
living  women.  None  who  have  met  her 
and  known  her  can  doubt  this,  as  none 
with  whom  she  has  at  any  time  been  con- 
nected can  fail  of  appreciating  her  warm 
and  kindly  nature." 

The  people  of  New  York  and  Boston  had 

received  a  strong  musical  impulse  from  the 

Lind  concerts,  and  it  was  not  astonishing 

to  find  them  ready  to  extend  as  warm,  if  not 

127 


Richard  Hoffman 

as  excited,  a  reception  to  Thalberg  as  they 
had  to  Jenny  Lind.  He  was  not  managed 
by  such  a  showman  as  P.  T.  Barnum,  but 
he  was  well  heralded  by  Ullmann,  and  I  dis- 
tinctly remember  the  intense  curiosity  with 
which  the  audience  awaited  his  first  per- 
formance in  Niblo's  concert  room  in  the 
autumn  of  1855.  He  was  the  first  really 
great  pianist  of  European  fame  to  come  to 
this  country,  and  he  was  known  to  have 
divided  the  honors  and  opinions  of  the  Old 
World  with  Liszt  himself.  It  is  true  De 
Meyer  had  been  here  and  had  in  turn  as- 
tonished and  charmed  his  audiences  by  his 
immense  tours  de  force  and  his  delicate 
touch,  while  Gottschalk,  fresh  from  his 
Parisian  triumphs,  had  also  been  heard  and 
admired,  but  the  colossal  reputation  of  a 
Thalberg  had  worked  up  the  pitch  of  ex- 
pectancy to  fever-heat.  It  was  not  a  trifling 
incident  of  the  day  or  week  to  go  to  one  of 
these  concerts,  but  a  much-coveted  privilege 
eagerly  sought  for  and  anticipated  as  a  rare 
128 


Richard  Hoffman 

treat.  At  the  matinees,  always  largely  at- 
tended by  ladies,  quite  a  social  feature  was 
added  by  the  serving  of  tea  and  light  con- 
fectionery during  the  entr'actes. 

Thalberg  was  immensely  successful,  giv- 
ing as  many  as  three  concerts  in  a  day,  one 
in  the  morning  and  evening  in  New  York, 
and  a  third  in  the  afternoon  in  Brooklyn. 
His  repertoire  consisted  only  of  about 
twelve  of  his  own  fantasias,  but  these  were 
played  with  absolute  perfection.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  great  players  of  the  last 
generation  were  much  more  perfect  in 
technical  finish  than  those  of  the  present 
time  who  play  everything  from  Bach  to 
Liszt.  Thalberg  was  wise  enough  to  avoid 
all  compositions  which  he  felt  did  not  be- 
long to  his  peculiar  genre;  he  did  not  en- 
croach upon  the  classics,  and  consequently 
he  never  scored  any  failures.  He  knew  his 
limitations,  but  he  did  not  allow  others  to 
discover  them.  He  was  satisfied  to  be  suc- 
cessful in  his  own  compositions,  which  still 
129 


Richard  Hoffman 

remain  the  best  operatic  transcriptions  ex- 
tant. His  perfect  virtuosity  was  the  result 
of  untiring  labor.  Vincent  Wallace  once 
told  me  that  he  had  heard  him  practise  two 
bars  of  his  "Don  Pasquale"  Fantasia  in  the 
octave  variation  on  the  Serenade  for  a 
whole  night,  never  leaving  the  piano  until 
sunrise.  I  gave  my  warmest  sympathy  to 
Wallace,  but  I  confess  to  have  enjoyed  very 
keenly  the  result  of  the  night's  work.  I 
think  I  heard  him  every  time  he  played  in 
New  York,  as  Ullmann  sent  me  an  entree  to 
the  concerts  for  the  season.  I  had  always 
been  an  ardent  apostle  of  his  methods,  and 
the  more  I  heard  him  the  more  I  felt  his 
claim  on  my  admiration. 

Later  in  the  same  year  Thalberg  and 
Gottschalk  joined  forces  and  played  some 
duets  for  two  pianos  at  the  Niblo  concerts. 
One  in  particular,  on  themes  from  "Trova- 
tore,"  composed  by  both  of  them,  and  which 
I  have  never  seen  in  print,  was  wonderfully 
effective  and  created  the  most  tremendous 
130 


Sigismond  Thalberg 


Richard  Hoffman 

furore  and  excitement.  A  remarkable 
double  shake  which  Thalberg  played  in 
the  middle  of  the  piano,  while  Gottschalk 
was  flying  all  over  the  keyboard  in  the  "An- 
vil Chorus,"  produced  the  most  prodigious 
volume  of  tone  I  ever  heard  from  the  piano. 
Gottschalk  and  Thalberg  brought  their 
own  European  grand  pianos  with  them, 
the  former  used  a  Pleyel,  and  the  latter  an 
Erard,  but  finding  the  Chickering  grands 
so  satisfactory  they  both  adopted  them,  as 
the  foreign  pianos  suffered  very  much  from 
our  changeable  climate.  The  retirement 
of  Thalberg  and  Gottschalk  practically 
ended  the  reign  of  those  artists,  who  de- 
voted their  whole  energies  and  talents  to 
the  perfection  of  execution,  and  for  this  end 
chiefly  used  their  own  compositions  as 
mediums  of  virtuosity.  If  Gottschalk's 
reputation  as  an  artist  of  the  first  rank  has 
been  somewhat  dimmed  by  succeeding  virt- 
uosi as  well  as  by  the  change  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  taste  of  the  musical  pub- 


Richard  Hoffman 

lie,  he  nevertheless  stood  alone  as  master 
of  a  style  all  his  own.  Possessed  of  the 
languid,  emotional  nature  of  the  tropics, 
his  music  recalled  the  land  of  his  birth  and 
the  traits  of  his  people.  He  became  at  one 
time  the  rage  in  society;  he  was  over- 
whelmed with  attentions  from  the  fair  sex, 
and  was  sought  after  both  in  public  and 
private.  He  must  have  been  completely 
overpowered  by  these  testimonies  of  esteem 
had  he  not  been  endowed  with  more 
strength  of  character  than  is  generally  ac- 
corded to  him.  I  knew  him  well,  and  al- 
ways found  him  a  generous  and  sympathiz- 
ing friend,  ever  ready  to  aid  in  advancing 
my  career,  and  according  to  me  all  the 
credit  which  was  my  due.  I  often  assisted 
him  at  his  concerts  in  duets  for  two  pianos, 
one  on  themes  from  Verdi's  "Jerusalem," 
another  his  own  arrangement  of  "William 
Tell,"  and  after  his  return  from  Cuba  we 
played  his  Cuban  dances  for  two  per- 
formers on  one  piano. 
132 


Richard  Hoffman 

At  his  second  concert  in  New  York,  after 
his  return  from  Paris,  he  chose  to  play 
Weber's  "Concertstiick,"  rather  a  strange 
choice,  as  it  was  physically  impossible  for 
him  to  execute  the  octave  glissando  pas- 
sages as  marked,  from  a  habit  of  biting  his 
nails  to  such  an  extent  that  his  fingers  were 
almost  devoid  of  them,  and  a  glissando 
under  these  circumstances  was  out  of  the 
question.-  He  substituted  an  octave  pas- 
sage, played  from  the  wrist  with  alternate 
hands,  very  cleverly  to  be  sure,  but  missing 
a  good  deal  of  the  desired  effect.  He  was 
so  persistent  in  this  habit  of  biting  his  nails 
that  I  have  known  the  keys  to  be  covered 
with  blood  when  he  had  finished  playing. 
It  was  the  fashion  at  that  time  always  to 
wear  white  gloves  with  evening  dress,  and 
his  manner  of  taking  them  off,  after  seating 
himself  at  the  piano,  was  often  a  very 
amusing  episode.  His  deliberation,  his 
perfect  indifference  to  the  waiting  audience 
was  thoroughly  manifest,  as  he  slowly  drew 
133 


Richard  Hoffman 

them  off  one  finger  at  a  time,  bowing  and 
smiling  meanwhile  to  the  familiar  faces  in 
the  front  rows.  Finally  disposing  of  them, 
he  would  manipulate  his  hands  until  they 
were  quite  limber,  then  preludize  until  his 
mood  prompted  him  to  begin  his  selection 
on  the  programme.  He  devoted  himself 
almost  entirely  to  his  own  compositions, 
which  were  full  of  character  and  charm,  and 
he  remains  to-day  the  one  American  com- 
poser of  genuine  originality,  the  "Bam- 
boula,"  "Marche  de  Nuit,"  "Le  Bananier," 
"  Jota  Aragonesa,"  and  others  too  numer- 
ous to  mention  bearing  abundant  testimony 
of  his  genius. 

I  have  often  seen  him  arrive  at  a  concert 
in  no  mood  for  playing,  and  declare  that  he 
would  not  appear;  that  an  excuse  might  be 
made,  but  that  he  would  not  play.  He 
cared  no  more  for  the  public  than  if  he  had 
been  in  a  private  drawing-room  where  he 
could  play  or  not  as  he  pleased;  but  a  little 
coaxing  and  a  final  push  would  drive  him  on 
134 


From  a  photograph,  copyright,  1861,  by  C.  D.  Fredericks  &•  Co. 

Louis  Moreau  Gottschalk 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  the  stage,  and  after  a  few  moments  the 
fire  would  kindle  and  he  would  play  with 
all  the  brilliancy  which  was  so  peculiarly 
his  own.  He  was  possessed  of  a  ringing, 
scintillating  touch,  which,  joined  to  a  poetic 
charm  of  expression,  seemed  to  sway  the 
emotions  of  his  audience  with  almost  hyp- 
notic power. 

His  eyes  were  the  striking  feature  of 
his  face,  large  and  dark  with  peculiarly 
drooping  lids,  which  always  appeared 
half  closed  as  he  played.  There  must  be 
some  youthful  grandmothers  in  New 
York  to-day  who  have  experienced  'the 
charm  of  their  magnetic  albeit  languorous 
glances. 

There  was  much  that  was  sad  and  pain- 
ful about  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Rio, 
in  1869.  A  mystery  hung  over  his  last  days 
which  has  never  been  clearly  explained. 
All  that  we  know  is  recorded  by  his  sister, 
who  edited  his  book,  published  in  1881,  and 
entitled  "  Notes  of  a  Pianist. "  These  notes, 
135 


Richard  Hoffman 

originally  written  in  French,  are  so  full  of 
spirit  and  local  color  that  one  is  almost 
inclined  to  believe  that  Gottschalk,  had 
he  lived,  might  have  been  as  prolific  and 
original  with  his  pen  as  he  was  in  his 
music.  „ 

After  I  had  been  in  America  eight  or  nine 
years  I  frequently  went  abroad  to  pass  the 
summer,  and  it  was  during  one  of  these 
visits  I  first  met  Charles  Halle.  I  met  him 
one  day  at  Broadwood's,  where  he  was 
choosing  a  piano  to  play  upon  at  a  matinee 
that  afternoon  at  the  Musical  Union.  He 
made  me  try  it  for  him,  and  invited  me  to 
go  to  the  concert  and  hear  him  play.  He 
gave  some  selections  of  Chopin,  and  later  at 
St.  James's  Hall  I  heard  him  in  some  of  the 
last  "Sonatas"  of  Beethoven.  He  had 
formerly  played  all  of  the  sonatas  by  heart, 
but  was  not  doing  so  then,  and  used  an  in- 
vention for  turning  the  leaves  which  was 
acted  upon  by  a  pedal  worked  with  the  right 


Charles  Halle 


Richard  Hoffman 

foot.  Although  he  was  among  the  first  to 
play  all  the  Beethoven  sonatas  by  heart, 
he  no  longer  felt  able  to  continue  the  mental 
strain  of  this  herculean  task. 

England  was  justly  proud  of  this  great 
artist,  whom  she  claimed  for  her  own,  con- 
ferring upon  him  the  highest  honors  re- 
served for  her  choicest  talent  and  most  es- 
teemed subjects. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Ernest  Lu- 
beck  at  this  time — about  1863 — and  heard 
him  play  at  the  London  Philharmonic 
Mendelssohn's  "D  Minor  Concerto,"  and 
at  the  Musical  Union  Beethoven's  "E  Flat 
Sonata"  and  the  last  movement  of  Mendels- 
sohn's organ  "Sonata  in  F."  We  after- 
ward travelled  together  to  Paris,  where  I 
dined  at  his  house.  He  introduced  me  to  a 
new  set  of  etudes  he  had  just  composed, 
very  clever  and  effective.  I  had  sent  some 
of  my  pupils  to  him,  who  were  going  abroad 
for  musical  study,  and  he  showed  me  much 
kindness  and  hospitality.  I  learned  with 
137 


Richard  Hoffman 

regret  that  he  died  soon  afterward.  I 
played  his  "Grand  Polonaise"  at  one  of 
the  Philharmonic  concerts  in  New  York, 
but  it  failed  to  make  the  effect  I  had 
hoped. 

Another  interesting  episode  of  the  sum- 
mer was  my  acquaintance  with  the  Misses 
Leech,  sisters  of  John  Leech  of  Punch.  I 
spent  many  pleasant  musical  evenings  at 
their  house,  usually  accompanied  by  my 
friend,  Giulio  Regondi.  It  was  my  delight 
to  study  over  and  over  again  the  clever 
sketches  by  their  brother,  with  which  the 
walls  of  their  house  were  literally  covered, 
and  seeing  my  interest  in  them  they  made 
me  the  happy  possessor  of  two,  adding  to 
them  a  photograph  of  John  Leech  himself, 
taken  from  life.  These  ladies  started  a 
school  soon  after  their  brother's  death,  but 
the  sale  of  his  sketches  at  Christies'  in  Lon- 
don in  April,  1866,  must  have  placed  them 
beyond  the  necessity  of  any  bread-winning 
labors  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

138 


Richard  Hoffman 

Lord  Ronald  Gower  in  his  "Reminis- 
cences" mentions  that  some  of  the  water- 
color  sketches  brought  one  hundred  pounds 
apiece,  while  those  in  pen  and  ink  and  pen- 
cil sold  at  proportionately  high  prices.  His 
success  in  character-sketching  was  per- 
haps equalled,  though  never  surpassed,  by 
the  late  George  du  Maurier.  But  Du 
Maurier  was  doubly  gifted  as  artist  and 
writer,  and  probably  no  man  ever  enjoyed 
a  greater  notoriety  than  came  to  him  after 
the  publication  of  "Trilby."  The  craze, 
or  the  malady,  for  it  amounted  to  that,  at- 
tacked all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  and 
I  was  so  far  infected  by  it  as  to  compile  an 
album  of  Trilby  music,  including  the  mel- 
ody of  "Ben  Bolt."  The  authenticity  of 
the  latter  being  questioned,  and  another 
tune  discovered  set  to  the  same  inspiring 
words,  I  determined  to  try  and  find  out  if 
mine  was  correct  and  the  one  intended  by 
the  author.  I  wrote  a  little  note  to  him, 
sending  at  the  same  time  a  copy  of  the 
139 


Richard  Hoffman 

music,  and  not  long  after  received  the  fol- 
lowing reply: 


"NEW  GROVE  HOUSE, 

"HEMPSTEAD  HEATH. 

"DEAR  SIR:     Many  thanks  for  the  Trilby 
music,  you  make  me  proud  indeed.    The  tune 
you  have  put  to  Ben  Bolt  is  the  tune  I  meant  —  I 
didn't  know  there  was  another. 
"Pray  believe  me 

"Very  truly  yours, 

"GEORGE  DU  MAURIER." 

In  looking  backward  over  the  past 
twenty-five  years  of  musical  events  in  this 
country  I  would  signalize  the  following  as 
among  the  most  important:  The  coming 
of  Christine  Nilsson  in  1870,  the  concert 
season  of  Anton  Rubinstein,  and  the  three 
engagements  of  Dr.  Hans  von  Bulow. 
Add  to  these  the  great  musical  festival  of 
New  York  in  1881,  at  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment Armory,  conducted  by  Dr.  Leopold 
Damrosch,  and  those  of  Cincinnati,  which 
140 


Richard  Hoffman 

did  so  much  to  awaken  the  musical  taste 
of  the  West  and  to  open  out  a  hitherto  un- 
discovered country  to  those  of  the  profes- 
sion who  were  beginning  to  find  the  East 
overcrowded  with  aspirants.  Of  these 
the  first  two  were  perhaps  the  most  emo- 
tional in  their  interest  and  influence,  and 
the  last  two  the  most  essentially  educational. 
The  foreground  of  this  summary  contains 
Tschaikowsky,  Dvorak,  Paderewski,  and 
the  modern  opera-singers,  all  of  whom  are 
too  near  us  to  judge  clearly  of  their  influ- 
ence upon  the  future  of  musical  develop- 
ment, or  to  come  under  the  head  of  "  Recol- 
lections." * 

It  is  true  that  many  singers  and  musi- 
cians of  note  had  come  and  gone  in  the 
interval  since  Jenny  Lind  and  Thalberg, 
but  there  had  been  none  since  these  whose 
reputation  and  advent  had  awakened  such 
lively  interest  as  that  aroused  by  the  en- 
gagement of  Christine  Nilsson.  Great 

1  This  was  written  in  1897. 
141 


Richard  Hoffman 

preparations  were  made  for  her  reception. 
Prof.  R.  Ogden  Doremus,  who  was  at  that 
time  President  of  the  Philharmonic  So- 
ciety, had  issued  cards  of  invitation  to  all 
the  musical  profession  and  amateurs  of 
New  York  to  meet  Mile.  Nilsson  at  a  re- 
ception which  he  gave  in  her  honor  at  his 
house,  then  standing  on  the  corner  of  Nine- 
teenth Street  and  Fourth  Avenue.  It  was 
during  this  entertainment  that  the  Phil- 
harmonic Orchestra  tendered  her  a  sere- 
nade and  offered  the  Swedish  singer  a  wel- 
come to  America.  This  house,  which  has 
long  since  disappeared,  stood  far  back  from 
the  street,  and  the  gardens  in  front  afforded 
an  excellent  vantage-ground  for  the  or- 
chestra to  station  itself.  I  was  present  on 
this  occasion  and  recall  with  pleasure  the 
charming  and  affable  manners  of  Mile. 
Nilsson,  who  made  a  most  agreeable  im- 
pression on  every  one.  She  was  at  this  time 
tall  and  graceful,  with  an  abundance  of 
blonde  hair,  made  more  striking  by  her 
142 


Richard  Hoffman 

dark  eyebrows  and  deep-set  gray  eyes. 
She  had  just  come  from  the  Grand  Opera 
in  Paris,  where  she  had  created  the  parts  of 
Mignon  and  Ophelia  in  these  operas  of 
Ambroise  Thomas,  and  her  conception  of 
Marguerite  in  "Faust"  and  of  Valentine 
in  the  "Huguenots"  was  superlatively  fine. 
We  have  rarely,  if  ever,  had  a  finer  actress 
on  the  operatic  stage,  whose  divas  up  to  this 
time  had  seldom  developed  great  histrionic 
ability.  Grisi,  it  is  true,  had  her  moments 
of  dramatic  power  in  "Norma"  and  the 
"Huguenots,"  but  Nilsson  might  have  won 
fame  without  her  musical  gifts  by  her  splen- 
did impersonations  in  tragedy  and  melo- 
drama. In  1873,  Campanini  joined  the 
Strakosch  Company  and  sang  with  Nilsson 
in  all  her  best  parts.  His  voice,  then  fresh 
and  smooth,  possessed  many  charming 
qualities.  Like  Nilsson's,  his  acting  was  su- 
perb, and  together  they  have  given  some 
of  the  finest  representations  in  Italian  opera 
we  have  ever  had  in  this  country. 
143 


Richard  Hoffman 

In  recalling  the  serenade  of  the  Phil- 
harmonic Society  to  Mile.  Nilsson  I  am 
reminded  of  a  custom  now  fallen  into  des- 
uetude, but  which  at  the  time  I  speak  of  was 
a  favorite  method  of  bestowing  a  marked 
compliment  upon  any  one  whom  you 
wished  particularly  to  honor.  The  serenade 
was  not  only  offered  to  visitors  of  distinc- 
tion, but  prevailed  extensively  as  a  delicate 
attention  which  you  might  pay  to  the  lady 
of  your  choice.  It  was  thought  the  proper 
thing  at  that  period  for  a  man  to  engage 
the  best  brass  band  he  could  afford  and  to 
proceed  with  it  after  midnight  to  the  house 
of  his  preferred,  and  then  to  stand  beneath 
her  windows  while  the  musicians  played 
their  most  sentimental  and  amorous  selec- 
tions. It  was  not  an  uncommon  sound, 
even,  to  hear  a  double  quartette  of  male 
voices,  with  a  French  horn  thrown  in,  sing- 
ing beneath  the  windows  of  some  favored 
damsel,  while  paterfamilias,  or  the  butler, 
made  ready  some  light  refreshment  for  the 
144 


Richard  Hoffman 

donors  of  this  graceful  compliment.  These 
romantic  attentions  have  taken  flight  with 
the  advent  of  electric  lights,  elevated  rail- 
roads, and  other  voices  of  the  night,  but 
thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago  even  New 
York  had  a  few  hours  of  stillness  after 
midnight,  and  the  night  watchmen  lent  an 
indulgent  ear  to  these  revellers,  who  would 
doubtless  be  locked  up  as  disturbers  of  the 
peace  did  they  hazard  such  an  enterprise 
under  our  modern  regime. 

If  I  pass  somewhat  hastily  over  the 
Rubinstein  epoch,  it  is  not  because  I  was 
insensible  to  its  influence.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  magnificent  en  train  of  his  play- 
ing nor  the  nobility  of  his  style,  but  as  I  had 
no  personal  acquaintance  with  Rubinstein 
beyond  an  introduction  and  a  few  words  of 
greeting  I  cannot  enlarge  upon  his  charac- 
teristics. I  recall,  however,  his  rather  star- 
tling reply,  when  I  asked  him  what  he  was 
to  play  at  his  first  concert:  "To  play?" 
he  answered  gloomily.  "What  matters  it 
145 


Richard  Hoffman 

what  I  play ! — but  I  answer  your  question 
certainly,"  and  he  mentioned  several  com- 
positions. 

I  saw  much  more  of  Hans  von  Biilow, 
who  came  to  the  Chickerings  in  1875.  We 
met  frequently  in  an  informal  way,  and  I 
played  with  him  two  or  three  times  in  pub- 
lic, once  in  the  D  minor  "Triple  Concerto" 
of  Bach,  with  accompaniment  of  double 
string  quartette  and  double  bases  added, 
and  also  in  the  concerto  for  four  pianos, 
when  a  pupil  of  his  and  one  of  mine  took 
the  third  and  fourth  pianos.1  I  first  met 
him  at  Mr.  Frank  Chickering's,  and  as  he 
asked  me  to  play  for  him  I  began  with 
some  of  my  own  compositions,  which  I 
thought  might  interest  him  more  than 
those  with  which  he  was  so  entirely  familiar. 
In  reply  to  his  complimentary  criticism  I 
said  they  were  "only  trifles,"  to  which  he 
quickly  answered :  "  But  trifles  make  per- 
fection, and  perfection  is  no  trifle."  His 

1  Miss  Marion  Brown;  Mrs.  C.  B.  Foote. 
146 


Richard  Hoffman 

wit  was  ever  ready,  and  his  quick  repartee 
and  dry  humor  made  him  a  most  enter- 
taining companion.  His  audiences  at 
Chickering  Hall  were  composed  of  the  most 
cultured  amateurs  of  New  York  as  well  as 
those  of  the  profession,  and  one  saw  the 
same  people  at  each  concert  in  their  regular 
places.  His  programmes  were  followed 
with  the  greatest  attention,  and  all  those 
who  were  privileged  to  assist  at  this  series 
of  musical  entertainments  must  have  been 
sensible  of  the  atmosphere  of  intellectual 
enthusiasm  which  pervaded  them. 

Von  Biilow  made  the  usual  tour  of  the 
West  at  this  time,  but  refused  to  do  so 
when  he  came  in  1884.  He  was  particu- 
larly amused  at  the  musical  criticisms  of 
his  playing  by  the  local  newspapers  of  the 
Western  cities,  and  kept  a  scrap-book  in 
which  he  preserved  a  large  number  of  these 
choice  specimens  of  belles-lettres  accom- 
panied by  marginal  comments  of  his  own. 
These  contained  rare  bits  of  caustic  wit  and 
147 


Richard  Hoffman 

would  afford  a  feast  of  amusement  to-day 
could  they  be  reproduced  in  fac-simile  and 
given  to  the  public.  This  scrap-book  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  Baroness  von  Over- 
beck,  a  very  beautiful  American  who  had 
married  a  German  baron.  She  was  a  fine 
musician  herself,  and  during  the  first  and 
second  Von  Biilow  engagements  happened 
to  be  in  this  country.  She  attended  all  the 
concerts  in  New  York,  Washington,  and 
other  Eastern  cities,  and  soon  found  the 
maestro  ready  to  lay  his  homage  at  her 
feet,  and  with  it  this  most  diverting  record 
of  his  Western  experiences. 

During  his  third  visit,  in  1889,  when  Von 
Biilow  was  giving  his  Beethoven  Cycles, 
and  performing  the  colossal  feat  of  playing 
all  the  Sonatas  by  heart,  I  persuaded  him 
to  come  to  one  of  my  Trio  afternoons  given 
at  a  private  house,  when  a  Bach  programme 
was  to  be  played.  One  of  the  numbers 
was  the  first  "Prelude"  with  Gounod's 
"Ave  Maria"  melody,  to  which  he  ob- 
148 


Richard  Hoffman 

jected,  saying  he  liked  his  Bach  unadul- 
terated. He  soon  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
the  music,  however,  and  constituted  himself 
an  impromptu  conductor.  When  the  string 
quartette,  which  accompanied  the  concertos 
for  two  pianos,  played  a  little  too  loud,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  hush  them  down  very 
audibly.  He  seemed  to  enjoy  the  pro- 
gramme highly,  and  one  of  my  pupils, 
who  played  in  the  concerto  for  two  piano- 
fortes, was  considerably  dismayed  when  the 
doctor  insisted  on  turning  the  leaves  for  her. 
I  went  one  evening  to  hear  a  Brahms 
programme,  given  at  a  club  meeting,  when 
Von  Biilow  was  present.  A  sonata  for 
piano  and  violin  was  played  from  a  proof- 
copy  of  the  doctor's,  and  when  the  per- 
formance was  over  he  took  the  music  from 
the  desk  and  presented  it  to  me,  which  may 
have  struck  the  performers  as  hardly  fair 
to  them,  as  I  had  taken  no  part  in  it.  But 
he  was  an  impulsive  spirit  and  it  would  not 
have  helped  matters  had  I  asked  him  to 
149 


Richard  Hoffman 

amend  his  preferences,  hence  I  still  keep 
the  copy,  which  I  value  very  much. 

The  following  letter  came  to  me  from 
him  in  acknowledgment  of  the  dedication 
of  one  of  my  compositions  which  I  sent  to 
him  soon  after  his  return  to  Germany  in 
1889- 

"HAMBURG,  5th  of  Jan'y>  1890. 
"DEAR  SIR: 

AND  WORSHIP — COMPANION 
FOR    THE    HEROES    BACH,    BEETHOVEN    AND 
BRAHMS! 

"I  feel  most  unhappy  that  you  must  have 
considered  for  many  weeks  my  poor  self  as  a 
first  rate  ruffian  because  I  did  not  answer  sooner 
your  kind  note.  But  of  course  the  curse  of 
letters  going  astray  occurs  very  often  in  my  wan- 
dering life  and  the  heaping  of  epistles  from  every- 
where. 

"Now — revising  and  putting  in  order  my 
papers  at  the  threshold  of  the  New  Year — • 
finally  I  got  repossessing  your  flattering  lines. 
Accept  please  one  hundred  and  eleven  thanks 
for  the  honor  you  will  bestow  upon  me  your 
E5*  Minor  Scherzo.  With  best  regards  to  Mrs. 


Dr.  Hans  von  Billow 


Richard  Hoffman 

Hoffman  and  heartiest  albeit  retarded  greetings 
of  the  Season,  I  remain  dear  Sir, 
"Yours  most  truly, 

"HANS  VON  BULOW." 

Between  the  first  and  second  visits  to  this 
country,  he  had  married  a  woman  of  un- 
usual culture,  charm,  and  intelligence,  who 
has  recently  edited  with  great  ability  sev- 
eral volumes  of  his  letters,  published  in 
Germany  and  America  soon  after  his  death. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  in  her  devo- 
tion and  sympathetic  companionship  he 
must  have  found  compensation  for  the 
troubles  and  sorrows  of  his  first  matrimonial 
experience. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  the  musical  world 
of  to-day  is  strongly  dominated  by  Wagner. 
Musical  thought  is  unconsciously  influ- 
enced by  any  school  of  music  that  suddenly 
supplants  the  old  traditions,  and  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  composers  to  avoid  a  certain  imita- 
tion of  so  subtle  and  powerful  a  style  as 
that  of  Richard  Wagner. 


Richard  Hoffman 

If  the  old  laws  of  composition  interfere 
with  his  inspiration,  he  discards  them  and 
makes  his  own — but  he  produces  tonal 
effects  that  are  superlatively  fine.  We  all 
crave  new  sensations,  and  he  has  given 
them  to  us — sometimes,  perhaps,  at  too 
great  length,  since  we  are  mortals  and  the 
"sublime"  will  "weary"  if  not  withdrawn 
before  nature  is  exhausted.  But  who  has 
interpreted  with  greater  fascination  the 
sounds  of  the  forest  or  the  rippling  of  waters, 
the  song  of  the  bird  or  the  crackling  of 
flames!  Add  to  these  the  love  motifs,  the 
picturesque  settings  of  his  operas  all  planned 
by  him,  and  the  stupendous  task  of  adapt- 
ing the  old  legends  and  myths  into  poems 
that  hold  your  interest  and  attention 
through  hours  of  representation,  and  you 
have  before  you  the  work  of  a  Titan  that 
claims  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

It  is  often  a  subject  of  wonder  to  people 
how  anything  new  can  be  evolved  from 
152 


Richard  Hoffman 

such  well-worn  material  as  the  old  musical 
gamut — or  scale — but  it  is,  after  all,  only  a 
framework,  and  inspiration  has  its  own 
tools.  We  do  not  criticise  the  sacred  fire  if 
it  consumes  our  oldest  traditions.  Perhaps 
the  story  of  Balfe's  method  of  finding  mel- 
odies when  inspiration  failed  may  be  new 
to  some.  He  would  put  the  letters  of  the 
musical  alphabet  on  separate  bits  of  paper, 
duplicating  each  letter  several  times,  then 
draw  them  out  from  a  hat,  one  by  one,  and 
note  them  down,  having  previously  decided 
upon  his  key  and  time.  The  reiterated 
notes  of  some  of  his  melodies  certainly  war- 
rant the  truth  of  this : 


And  still  another  of  the  composer  of  the 
"Glory   Hallelujah"   chorus   of  war-time 
fame,  who,  in  consequence  of  its  popular- 
ity, turned  the  tune  upside  down  and  manu- 
153 


Richard  Hoffman 

factured  "When  this  cruel  war  is  over," 
and  garnered  another  good  harvest: 


But  these  tricks  are  unworthy  and  only 
fit  for  the  factory  which  is  now  striving  to 
enter  into  competition  with  the  handiwork 
of  the  musician,  and  to  give  to  the  world,  by 
means  of  mechanical  contrivances,  what  he 
has  paid  for  perhaps  with  his  life's  blood. 
They  will  have  their  success  and  their  day 
of  triumph,  but  they  cannot  survive. 

It  has  often  amused  me  to  look  for  musi- 
cal resemblances;  there  are  so  many  curi- 
154 


Richard  Hoffman 

ous  instances  of  the  same  musical  phrase 
being  conceived  by  different  great  com- 
posers. It  is  perhaps  remarkable  that  they 
do  not  occur  oftener.  I  have  discarded 
many  of  my  own  compositions  that  I 
thought  rather  good,  because  some  one, 
perhaps  one  of  my  own  children,  would  say 
upon  hearing  it:  "Oh,  father,  that  is  just 
like  so  and  so!"  naming  possibly  some  well- 
known  composition.  I  usually  found  they 
were  right  in  their  diagnosis,  and  I  would 
decide  to  change  the  treatment  or,  more 
often,  give  up  the  case. 

If  it  were  possible  to  look  as  far  into  the 
future  as  I  have  into  the  past,  I  might  pre- 
dict that  the  great  composers  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  would  be  found  in  America. 
To-day,  even,  we  can  name  several  of 
whom  we  are  justly  proud.  Who  knows, 
indeed,  but  the  descendant  of  the  native 
Indian  will  be  capable  of  singing  the  songs 
of  the  forest  primeval,  the  rush  of  the  cata- 
ract, and  the  legends  of  his  vanished  tribe, 
155 


Richard  Hoffman 

in  harmonies  as  yet  unheard  or  even  im- 
agined ?  I  am  told  that  given  the  usual  ad- 
vantages of  an  ordinary  education,  it  takes 
but  one  generation  from  the  full-blooded 
savage  to  make  an  excellent  orthodox 
divinity  student,  as  well  as  a  good  Ameri- 
can citizen  with  right  of  suffrage.  If  the 
road  is  so  short  from  the  prairie  to  the  pul- 
pit, and  from  the  wigwam — shall  we  say 
to  the  White  House  ? — why  may  not  music 
look  for  a  new  prophet  among  this  peo- 
ple so  amenable  to  the  influences  of  civ- 
ilization ?  They  have  ever  been  a  silent 
race,  given  to  but  slight  interchange  in  lan- 
guage; it  is  not  impossible  that  they  should 
eventually  find  their  inspiration  in  music, 
and  wring  from  our  well-nigh  exhausted 
gamut  tonal  effects  hitherto  unknown. 

The  testimonial  concert  which  was  ten- 
dered to  me  at  Chickering  Hall  on  De- 
cember i,  1897,  in  celebration  of  my  fifty 
years  of  musical  work  in  this  country,  led 
me  to  search  the  archives  of  memory  for 

156 


Richard  Hoffman,  1893 


Richard  Hoffman 

these  musical  recollections.  Scattered  and 
incomplete  as  they  are,  I  dedicate  them  to 
those  who  have  been  my  friends  and  pu- 
pils in  the  course  of  this  long  period,  and 
who  have  helped  me  by  their  encourage- 
ment and  appreciation  to  feel  that  my 
labors  in  the  cause  we  have  loved  have  not 
been  in  vain. 


157 


HOW  TO  STIMULATE 

THOUGHT  AND  IMAGINATION 

IN  A  PUPIL 

BY  RICHARD  HOFFMAN 


I  Reprinted  by  permission  from  "  The  Music  of  the  Modern  World." 
Copyright,  1895,  by  D.  Appleton  and  Company.] 


CO  much  of  the  individuality  of  the 
^  teacher  must  enter  into  his  musical  in- 
struction to  others,  that  it  is  difficult  for 
him  to  see  himself  as  others  see  him  and 
to  describe  with  any  accuracy  the  way  in 
which  he  achieves  his  results.  While  I  do 
not  undervalue  the  necessity  of  technical 
studies,  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  un- 
due attention  is  being  given  to  them,  often 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  higher  education  in 
music.  Of  course,  the  fingers  must  be 
trained  by  a  course  of  technique  full  of 
unaccustomed  difficulties,  which  finally 
leaves  us  free  to  think  of  higher  things. 
But  evenness  of  tone  and  of  touch  are  not 
everything — in  fact,  nothing  per  se — for 
we  can  combine  both  in  the  mechanical 
pianos  and  organs  so  much  in  vogue  at  the 
present  time.  When  an  artistic  player  is 
heard,  it  is  the  variety  of  tone,  the  infinite 
shading,  expression,  and  feeling,  which 
charm  and  uplift  us.  And  these  are  not 
all  the  result  of  technical  study.  He  must 
have  gone  deeper  than  this;  and  although 
161 


Richard  Hoffman 

it  is  wisely  said  that  poets  and  artists  are 
born,  not  made,  I  think  it  possible  to 
awaken  the  faculties  of  appreciation,  which, 
added  to  perseverance  and  zeal,  produce  a 
disciple  not  unworthy  of  the  master. 

A  technical  stumbling-block  to  ad- 
vanced pupils  arises  from  the  fact  that 
most  of  the  great  modern  composers  for 
the  pianoforte  had  very  large  hands.  Hen- 
selt,  Chopin,  and  Rubinstein  have  all 
written  etudes  which  are  simply  impossible 
for  small  hands,  and  I  give  here  the  posi- 
tion in  which  Henselt  is  said  to  have  placed 
his  fingers  upon  the  keyboard,  keeping 
them  there  while  he  read  a  book  held  open 
upon  the  music-desk: 


Hands  capable  9f  maintaining  this  position 
could  play  his.  Etude  No.  5,  Op.  2,  Book  I, 
or  Chopin's  Etude  No.  8,  Op.  25,  Book 
II,  with  comparative  ease.  Different  meth- 
ods must  of  necessity  be  adopted  to  in- 
crease the  extension  of  the  fingers.  Some 
162 


Richard  Hoffman 

pupils  have  hands  so  pliable  that  they  can 
bend  the  fingers  back  until  they  touch  the 
arm;  others,  again,  cannot  bend  them  at 
all.  The  average  extension  of  a  woman's 
hand  is  a  ninth,  a  tenth  being  rarely 
reached  on  the  white  keys. 

It  is  a  familiar  experience  to  find  the  ap- 
petite of  the  pupil  for  some  coveted  piece 
bringing  him  safely  through  difficulties 
apparently  insurmountable.  For  this  rea- 
son I  put  the  art  of  interpretation  before 
overmuch  technical  study.  The  passion 
for  playing  will  stimulate  the  technique  of 
the  pupil  and  create  resources  by  its  own 
desire.  Reflection  and  comparison  furnish 
food  for  imagination.  I  try  to  induce  my 
pupils  to  make  an  analysis  of  whatever 
they  may  be  studying,  and  also  to  stimulate 
research,  by  asking  questions  like  the  fol- 
lowing: "Why  is  it  that  the  great  com- 
posers in  depicting  a  storm  have  invaria- 
bly chosen  the  minor  key  ? — Rossini  in  the 
*  Overture  to  William  Tell,'  Beethoven  in 
the  'Pastoral  Symphony,'  Spohr  in  his 
'  Power  of  Sound/  Wagner  in  his  '  Walkure' 
prelude."  Also,  "Why  should  the  chord  of 
the  diminished  seventh  be  always  used 
when  the  devil  appears  upon  the  scene  ? — 


Richard  Hoffman 

Weber  in  'Der  Freischiitz'  (Caspar), 
Gounod  in  his  'Faust',  and  Wagner  in  his 
'  Overture  to  Faust, ' "  to  mention  a  few  in- 
stances. Again,  I  ask  them,  "Have  you 
noticed  that  Hungarian  airs  commence  on 
the  down  beat,  or  first  of  the  bar,  Wagner's 
later  melodies  and  subjects  doing  the 
same?" 

In  pursuance  of  this  system,  if  a  pupil 
were  studying  Beethoven's  Sonata  in  A 
Flat,  I  should  desire  to  find  out  his  concep- 
tion of  the  movement  following  the  funeral 
march  written  on  the  death  of  a  hero.  I 
should  ask,  "What  moved  him  to  intro- 
duce this  light  and  almost  frivolous  theme 
so  close  upon  the  footsteps  of  the  mourn- 
ers?" In  many  instances  the  pupil  might 
be  young  and  happy  enough  not  to  have 
thought  out  such  a  problem,  but  the  more 
experienced  mind,  and  one  to  whom  music 
has  many  things  to  say,  will  see  that  Bee- 
thoven only  depicts  the  giddy  world  which 
goes  on  amusing  itself  in  an  unceasing 
whirl  of  gayety  in  spite  of  death  and  even 
irreparable  loss.  In  the  concluding  move- 
ment of  the  Chopin  sonata  containing  the 
funeral  march  there  is  much  to  be  thought 
out  and  studied;  but  only  the  most  ad- 
164 


Richard  Hoffman 

vanced  pupils  would  be  capable  of  giving 
it  any  meaning,  and  only  one  player1  that  I 
have  heard  has  succeeded  in  giving  an 
absolutely  perfect  rendering  of  what  must 
be  the  whistling  wind  sweeping  the  hurry- 
ing clouds  before  the  face  of  the  moon  and 
lashing  the  trees  in  relentless  fury,  then 
moaning  itself  away  like  a  restless  spirit. 

Questions  would  naturally  arise  sug- 
gested by  the  work  in  hand,  and  some  of 
those  connected  with  time  and  rhythm 
might  not  be  out  of  place  here — such  as: 
"  Where  does  the  accent  fall  in  the  waltz — 
that  is,  on  what  part  of  the  measure? 
Where,  in  the  mazourka  ?  polka  ?"  Again, 
"Why  are  so  many  compositions  written 
in  three-fourth  time  and  called  waltzes, 
found  to  be  impossible  as  dance  music?" 
If  the  pupil  can  tell  me  that  the  spirit  of  the 
waltz  with  the  sentiments  and  feelings 
which  it  inspires  in  the  dancers  is  as  much 
a  part  of  the  composition  as  the  dancing 
motif,  it  is  safe  to  believe  that  the  Chopin 
waltzes  and  mazourkas  will  receive  an  in- 
telligent interpretation. 

A  favorite  theoretical  question  of  mine  is, 
"Don't  you  think  the  ear  could  be  made 

1  De  Pachmann. 

165 


Richard  Hoffman 

to  accept  and  even  like  a  scale  all  the  in- 
tervals of  which  are  whole  steps — thus: 


instead  of  the  diatonic  scale,  where  the  in- 
terval from  the  third  to  the  fourth  and  the 
seventh  to  the  eighth  is  a  half-step  ?"  The 
invariable  answer  is  "No."  "Now  play 
it  fast,  fingering  it  as  marked." 


This  pleases  better.  "Yes,  I  rather  like 
it."  This  leads  to  an  explanation  of  the 
construction  of  the  Scotch  and  even  the 
Chinese  scales,  perhaps  branching  into  a 
description  of  the  Gregorian  tones.  One 
can  pursue  the  subject  as  far  back  as  the 
old  modes  of  the  ancient  Greeks  with  their 
quarter  tones  or  steps,  although  we  are 
daily  getting  further  and  further  away 
from  these  delicate  distinctions.  Good 
166 


Richard  Hoffman 

violinists  have  told  me  that  they  no  longer 
make  any  difference  in  stopping  the  G 
sharp  and  A  flat,  C  sharp  and  D  flat,  and 
the  other  enharmonic  intervals,  and  one 
cannot  but  feel  that  these  finer  subdivisions 
will  soon  become  lost  to  art.  Everything 
that  can  interest  or  stimulate  the  curiosity 
of  a  pupil  or  tend  toward  enlarging  the 
scope  of  his  musical  ideas  is  valuable,  and 
while  the  fingers  are  resting,  the  head  may 
work  with  those  finer  tools,  which  together 
produce  an  intelligent  and  finished  result. 

Another  interesting  but  more  intricate 
study  would  be  following  the  different  mod- 
ulations of  a  composition,  for  instance: 
Chopin's  Nocturne  G  major,  Op.  37,  No. 
2,  or  the  first  movement  of  Beethoven's 
Sonata,  Op.  53. 

I  advise  my  pupils  to  hear  as  much  good 
singing  and  as  many  operas  as  possible. 
The  ear  cannot  be  better  trained  than  by 
this  means.  To  hear  such  an  artist  as  Jean 
de  Reszke  phrase  and  enunciate  in  the 
"Salut!"  cavatina  of  the  garden  scene  in 
Gounod's  "Faust,"  or  to  be  able  to  recall 
one's  impressions  on  hearing,  and  I  may 
add  seeing,  Nilsson  and  Campanini  in  the 
duo  of  the  fourth  act  of  the  "Huguenots" 
167 


Richard  Hoffman 

with  all  its  conflicting  emotions  of  love, 
honor,  and  despair,  is  an  education  in 
itself.  I  know  that  it  has  influenced  my 
own  powers  of  interpretation,  and  I  look 
back  upon  the  seventy  or  more  operas  that  I 
have  heard,  with  frequent  repetitions,  in  my 
lifetime,  as  being  one  of  the  sources  from 
which  I  have  drawn  my  musical  education. 
I  include  in  this  advice  all  good  orchestral 
concerts  where  standard  works  are  played, 
leading  my  pupils  to  mark  that  in  all  the 
classical  compositions  every  note  is  audi- 
ble and  is  given  to  the  right  instrument — 
fewer  instruments  producing  by  this  means 
as  grand  an  effect  as  double  the  number 
in  a  more  modern  work,  where  a  host  of 

players  are  uselessly  spending  their  strength 

i-i  -i 

upon  passages  which  are  entirely  over- 
powered by  the  heavier  brass  of  the  present- 
day  orchestra.  All  this  head-knowledge 
will  be  sure  to  come  out  at  the  finger-ends. 
Those  great  pianists  who  can  charm  their 
hearers  by  their  interpretations  can  be 
quickly  counted,  while  those  who  excel  in 
digital  dexterity  alone  are  as  innumerable 
as  the  stars  of  the  firmament. 


168 


Ipljilijarmomc  &ociet£  of 
lirsires  to  rrprr  s,a  its  rrspect  anD 
p  for  t£e  late  Kk!)3rt>  Hoffman, 
a  pianist  of  iJisttnguieJjeti  ability  anto 
for  fortp'fifae  pearjs  an  Ijonorarp  member 
of  the  {Philharmonic  ©orietv*  Cie  ap* 
peareU  on  more  t|)an  tljirt?  Uifferent 
occasions  a0  jsoloiet  at  tlje  concerts  of 
t|)e 


(^i0  laiBt  appearance  toa0  at  t|)e 
bal  Concert0  of  tl)e  jpiftietl) 
rp  of  t£e  g)^ill)armonic,    ^9r»  Hoffman 
teas  born  in  S^ancl?e3tert  (ZEnglanH,  on 
$pap  24t!)t  1831,  anU  came  to  America 
in  1847,    $e  Uieti  2ucu0t  17t|),  1909* 


Memorial  Notice  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  in  the  concert-programme 
of  January  20,  1910. 


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